Heart's Thief
by Cute and Fluffy
Summary: Discontinued. An initial foray into the complex relationship between Kagura and Sesshoumaru...
1. Freedom

Crimson and Gold

By Cute and Fluffy

* * *

Kagura finally wins back her heart, and her freedom, from Naraku and when he is finally destroyed she is at a loss for what to do. But what happens when her heart is suddenly stolen by another? And what happens when that theif happens to be a certain silver-haired, gold-eyed youkai who doesn't know what to do with his own? (Sesshoumaru x Kagura)

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own 'em. The plot and any original characters I may create are mine alone though. So don't take em!

* * *

**Rated T**

For violence and mild cursing.

* * *

**Crimson and Gold**

**Chapter 1: Freedom**

* * *

**_IMPORTANT:_ **_This story has been discontinued in favor of **Neither Crimson nor Gold**.  
_

_ My concept of the storyline and it's characters have changed significantly since I began this story four years ago. As such, when I went back to edit it I found that I was changing entire sections and plot points and in a few cases completely rewriting entire chapters. With this first chapter alone, I added an extra 3,000 words (5-6 pages?) in additional material._

_Anyways, I couldn't quite bring myself to delete this original conception, so it's still here. But if you're just now beginning to read this for the first time, I'd suggest going and reading **NCNG** instead. That's the one that will be continued from this point forward._

--

"It's the end, Naraku!" yelled Kagome as her arrow sped towards the hanyou, leaving a luminescent trail in its wake. Kagome's arrow and Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu struck him at the same time, once and for all ending his unholy life. Sesshoumaru held back the urge to sigh as Naraku's body disintegrated into ash. It was finally over.

His muscles trembled from exhaustion as he clutched Toukijin. With weary eyes he surveyed the battlefield, then slid Toukijin back into its sheath. That sword's part was finished, it was time for the sword of life, Tenseiga, to make itself useful.

Although they had ended Naraku's threat, they were not without casualties themselves. Kouga was dying, and if Inuyasha acted like his normal idiot self, he would be following Kikyou to Hell sooner than he realized. Sesshoumaru could already hear the Kagome's sobbing pleas to bring the idiot back. Disgraceful…

He started off to where the wolf youkai had fallen, his mind drifting off to the moment he had gotten involved in this mess. He remembered it clearly; the young miko had pleaded with him on her knees to help them. He had turned to leave when he had heard the tiniest sniffle. His sharp eyes picked out Rin hiding in the bushes, tears welling up in her eyes. With a pang in his heart he realized what would happen if he didn't help them. His stupid half-brother would fail and Naraku would be allowed the Shikon no Tama. Then how many more children would be orphaned? How many more Rins would have to suffer because of Naraku? Not that he cared of course… they were, after all, only human…

A pained gasp shook him out of his reverie. He looked around then noticed Kagura lying broken, bloodied by the edge of the clearing. The wind youkai had one hand stretched out towards the wood, and suddenly he realized she was crawling away to die. He marched over to her, then forced a grimace off his face at the smell of her. She reeked of death.

* * *

Kagura could see his feet and forced herself to look up despite the pain to see who was standing before her. Her eyes trailed up and met Sesshoumaru's emotionless face. She noticed with a slight smirk that even the great Sesshoumaru hadn't escaped unscathed. He was suffering from a deep wound in his side. But while he would be better than ever by the end of the week, Kagura knew her wounds were definitely fatal.

She recalled the events that had led up to this. Determined to escape Naraku, she had attempted to steal her heart away from him, and against all odds she had succeeded. But when she tried to escape she had discovered that it had all been a trap, and that Naraku, tired of his rebellious incarnation, had been toying with her before he killed her. But Kanna attacked Naraku, allowing Kagura to escape but giving up her life in Kagura's stead.

Swearing revenge on Naraku, she had joined forces with the two mikos and together they had brought her former master to his knees. But during the battle she had seen Kouga being absorbed into Naraku's body. He had gotten too close to the hanyou. Thinking only of the debt she owed Kouga and his clan she attacked Naraku in a desperate attempt to save the wolf. She had managed to save his life, and thus repay her debt, but not before Naraku left her with these lethal wounds to remember him by.

She lowered her head, once more staring at Sesshoumaru's feet. "I'm finally free," she whispered through blood covered lips. "Free of Naraku, free of my debt to Kouga." She met his eyes once more. "Leave me alone, Sesshoumaru. I'd like to die with my freedom and my dignity intact." She gasped again as another wave of pain wracked her body. She could feel the encroaching sleep of death, the rest that she had earned after so long.

Suddenly she felt a slight pressure in her palm. Sesshoumaru knelt before her, gently pressing her fan into her hand. Suddenly she realized she didn't want to die. What she had told Sesshoumaru was true. She really was free. But now that was being taken away from her without her ever being able to enjoy it. Tears came unbidden to her eyes, and despite all she could due to hide her weakness from the elder taiyoukai, sobs began to shake her dying body. Suddenly, in a completely uncharacteristic display of emotion, he took her free hand in his and held her close, cradling her against his chest. "I don't want to die," she murmured as she felt death's icy grip tighten on her soul. As she breathed her last she heard him whisper…

"I know…"

* * *

She was floating… floating in the same clearing where she had died. She could see Sesshoumaru still cradling her body, then noticed with shock as he bent down and laid a chaste kiss on her forehead. She blushed as she realized that perhaps he did care for her. Not that she minded of course… A wicked grin crossed her face as she shamelessly drank him, knowing that there was no way he could see her.

Suddenly she screamed as someone spoke behind her, "Just look at him…" Kagura whirled around only to be shocked speechless as she saw Kanna standing beside her. "And those eyes… I could just get lost in those eyes forever…"

Kanna turned to Kagura a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Hello sister. What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost or something…" When Kagura still didn't speak Kanna put her hands on her hips and with a look of indignation said, "Oh, come on! You really didn't think I wouldn't come to meet you…"

Kagura seemed to wake up at that and threw her arms around the smaller girl. "But Kanna… I let you die. Why aren't you mad at me?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad? I'm the one that chose to die. Not you. And really, being dead isn't that bad. It's actually kinda fun. You can haunt people and scare the living daylights out of old ladies." She went on, ignoring the shocked look that Kagura was giving her. "And once you get past that cold… bony… rotted exterior, the Grim Reaper is really quite a party animal!" She laughed at the look on Kagura's face. "Did you really think I'd stay quiet, little Kanna forever? Its amazing how much death changes your outlook on life…"

Kagura shook her head and stood up. "Might as well make the best of things I suppose. So when do I get to meet this friend of yours?"

"Not for a long time." Kanna interrupted Kagura's question before she even opened her mouth. "This isn't actually death. This is just somewhere in between, you're not allowed pass on until you go there to stay." Kanna laughed quietly at the confused look on Kagura's face. "Did you really think that the amazing creature over there would let you stay dead? He might have a stick shoved up his ass, but it isn't that far in there…"

Kagura turned back around to see Sesshoumaru standing over her body. With his one arm he began to draw Tenseiga. Suddenly serious Kanna spoke up beside her, "You've won, Kagura, but you aren't free yet. You owe him your life now, a debt that you must repay."

All of the sudden, Kagura felt an agonizing yank on her soul. She struggled to resist its pull, but when she felt a second darkness began to swim before her eyes. As she was pulled back into her body she heard her sister shouting, "You must save him from himself!"

* * *

Sesshoumaru had begun readying Tenseiga for a third swing when Kagura sat up with a gasp. Stepping back to give the resurrected youkai some air, he sheathed Tenseiga, allowing himself a small, satisfied smirk. He watched through veiled eyes as her chest rose and fell beneath a torn kimono, providing him with tantalizing glimpses of the flesh beneath.

Sesshoumaru felt a strange warmth began to glow throughout his body at the sight. Crimson eyes stared disconcertingly at him and he felt his face began to flush. Giving himself a mental slap, he forced away the strange emotion with an iron will. Sesshoumaru began glaring at her, challenging her. She immediately answered the silent challenge with one of her own. The two demons stared daggers at the other, neither crimson nor gold willing to admit defeat. Finally Kagura looked away and muttered a curt, "Thank you." She was silent for a moment. "I suppose you have some ridiculous task you want me to do in order to repay you."

Sesshoumaru was confused, although you wouldn't have been able to tell by looking at him. Then he realized that she probably thought that he wanted something from her in return for bringing her back. He almost laughed. 'What could you give me that I would ever want!' "This Sesshoumaru desires nothing from you. Do not worry about some imagined debt."

Kagura stood up suddenly, eyes flaming, and Sesshoumaru realized that he had touched a nerve. "I have never accepted charity from anyone, and I won't accept it, not even from you Sesshoumaru!" She spat out his name like it was something distasteful. "I will pay you back!" She started glaring at him once more.

"If you insist on doing so, you may try," he returned evenly. He watched under hooded eyes as she suddenly began to sway back and forth on her heels. He stepped forward just as her legs collapsed beneath her, and of its own accord his arm shot out and caught her.

She fell into his chest, and his arm, once again acting of its own will, wrapped around her waist and pulled her flush against him. When he realized with an inward grown what he had done, he began contemplating removing that arm as well. He could feel the heat of her, burning against his skin, awakening something inside him. He could feel himself reacting to her presence, and he nearly groaned when she shifted against him, breasts rubbing against his chest. Their eyes met and he noticed as she unconsciously licked her dry lips. Her face began to draw closer to his, her eyes closing, and then he noticed the change in her scent.

Embarrassed and frightened at what she was doing to him, he pushed her away. Disappointment flashed briefly through her eyes, as a deep blush rose to her face, but then her customary fire returned. With a disdainful "hmph!" she turned on her heel and marched off, tucking her fan back into her ruined sash. He smiled slightly despite himself, amused by her sudden exit. Until he noticed the sway of her hips as she walked, and the long shapely legs that peeked out through tears in her kimono…

He was going to need a bath that night. A very cold bath…

* * *

The unlikely group slowly made their way back towards Kaede's village, even Sesshoumaru as much to his own surprise as everyone else's. When Kagome had demanded, under threat of purification, that he would stay with them until he was in a better condition, everyone had expected a heated argument to ensue. But for reasons he couldn't remember he had agreed without a single word of argument.

He was staying under false premises, he knew, but it was better than having to explain that he would have gone with them anyway. Better this way so that he could continue lying to himself rather than face the true reason he had stayed. Better this way so he didn't have to admit that he was weak…

The miko halted suddenly and declared camp for the night. Sesshoumaru realized that she and his stupid half-brother had probably come through this area too many times to count while searching for the jewel shards. And if his assessment of Kagome was correct, there was probably a river or hot spring nearby where she could take a bath. Not that he minded, everyone here reeked of blood and sweat and dirt. They should all take one lest he die from the smell alone.

Kagome began to issue orders to everyone. Kouga, fully healed after his brief death, was sent to hunt down something for them to eat, while Kagome and Kagura went to fetch water so they could treat their wounds. They hadn't dared to linger too long near Naraku's death site for fear that some servants of his might still chance upon them, which, in their condition, would have been a very bad thing. And after leaving, they had been unable to find a single water supply until now. He was sure that Kagome would have a field day cleaning all of the hanyou's wounds.

Sesshoumaru watched as the said hanyou collapsed, groaning against a tree. Inuyasha was the worst off, suffering everything from broken bones to a scraped knee. Kagome had bandaged his wounds earlier, in order to stop the bleeding that would have killed him, and by now, Sesshoumaru knew that the hanyou's wounds had already started healing. He knew that his were. He could feel the telltale itch as his body knit itself back together. But just because they were healing didn't lessen the pain any. For once, Sesshoumaru actually sympathized with the hanyou.

The monk began digging through Kagome's bag and pulled out the same strange box that she had used earlier on Inuyasha. Opening it he began pulling out different things, each as strange as the next. But before he could indulge his curiosity, the two women returned with the water and Kagome immediately began tending Inuyasha. Taking off his haori, she removed the bandages and began to clean all the wounds that he had received. Sesshoumaru's lips curled up in a sneer at his half-brother's battered body, something Inuyasha didn't fail to notice.

"What are you looking at, you bastard!" he snarled.

"A disgrace to my blood-line who desperately needs to learn to dodge," shot back Sesshoumaru.

"I swear…" started Inuyasha as he tried to stand up, but was cut off when Kagome forced him back down.

"You two, stop it! If you don't I'll be forced to purify you both!"

"I wouldn't have a problem with him if he would just take that stick out of his…" He trailed off with a hiss when Kagome pushed a little too hard on one of his broken ribs. "Fine. I'll stop," he muttered sullenly.

Deciding that he had reeked long enough and Inuyasha's company wouldn't be improving any time soon, Sesshoumaru stood up, intent on a bath. He had started off in the same direction that the woman had taken earlier when surprisingly Kagura, not Kagome, called after him. "Sesshoumaru! Where do you think you're going?"

His back was still to them as he debated whether or not to answer her. That woman was getting to be too presumptuous for her own good. But realizing that if he didn't, she would likely stumble in on him bathing, a situation he really didn't need, he graced her with a curt response. "I'm going to bathe. I still reek of your blood." As he strode off he was rewarded with a muttered…

"Asshole!"

* * *

"Asshole!" Kagura muttered as she tore another piece of cloth to use as a bandage. Kagome had run out of her own bandages, and seeing as how her old kimono was ruined beyond repair anyway, she had offered it for her to use. In the meantime until she could get another one, Kagome had loaned her a plain red kimono to wear. "I try to be considerate to him and that's what I get?" Inuyasha started up another round of complaining and thinking that no one could hear her, she continued, "Its not like I asked him to hold me in the first place…"

Lost in her thoughts Kagura missed the look of evil glee that Kagome gave her. Suddenly the miko interrupted her. "Hey Kagura, after Lord Fluffy," Kagura looked confused at the nickname, but when she realized who it was referring to she couldn't help but giggle, "gets back would you like to join Sango and I in the hot springs. We could all use a good bath."

"I don't know…" Kagura had to admit, the prospect of a warm bath sounded wonderful. "There won't be anyone watching, will there?"

"Absolutely not!" Kagome shot a pointed glance towards Miroku who gave her an innocent look back. "Kirara knows exactly what to do if a certain monk gets it in his head to try. The neko-youkai, in her adorable kitten size, hoped gleefully into Miroku's lap and began purring. Miroku's eyes widened, obviously remembering what had happened the last time he had tried something on Kirara's watch.

"I still don't know…"

"Oh, come on. It'll be fun!" put in Sango. "Just us girls and a spring full of hot water…"

"I guess it could be…" suddenly Kagura threw up her hands. "Why not…" Kagome squealed in delight and accidentally pulled too hard on the bandage she was putting around Inuyasha's last cut, causing him to hiss in pain. Kagura simply smiled beneath her hand. All that attention really wasn't necessary. Half of those wounds would be gone by morning and all but the worst by the day after. If there was one thing the wind youkai was thankful for, it was the demons' ability to heal so quickly. Between the attention she lavished on him, the look in her eyes each and every time she looked at him, hell, even the fact that she was still with him, Kagura couldn't believe that the hanyou still didn't know how Kagome felt about him. He really must be as dense as Sesshoumaru says he is.

Satisfied that Inuyasha was fine, Kagome whirled around and began digging through her bag. She began pulling thins out and piling them into the arms of the unsuspecting Kagura. She picked up one of the items and held it before her eyes, looking strangely at it. It was some sort of large, pink, fuzzy cloth. Kagura turned to Kagome, confused. "Kagome, what is all this stuff?"

"Oh, just some things we'll need," Kagome answered matter-of-factly. "Soap, shampoo, a box of pocky…"

The small kitsune, who had been sneaking up on Inuyasha, who was steadfastly ignoring him, suddenly tackled Kagura with a cry of "Pocky!" He dug frantically through the pile until, pulling out a box, then ran off and hid with his prize.

Kagome shouted after Shippou, "Don't eat too much! You'll make yourself sick!" Then she turned with an apologetic smile to Kagura. "Perhaps I shouldn't have said that out loud. I managed to hide that box from him with some perfume and lots of clothes. I don't think he'll fall for that one a second time…" Kagura got up with a grin and began folding the different items neatly, piling them back up.

"But why all the clothes, and these other cloths?"

"Do you really expect to wear that kimono? It's absolutely filthy! And don't tell me you'll wash it because there is no way I'm letting you wear wet clothing back here. There's no telling what Miroku would do…" She shot a pointed glare at the monk who, once again,smiled innocently back.

"So what am I going to wear? You won't let me wear this one and my old kimono is ruined…"

Kagome pointed to a white bundle that she had tossed unceremoniously on the ground. "That."

Kagura picked it up, running her hand over the fabric. It was made of some of the finest silk she had ever seen. The kimono was white with crimson trim and a single crimson stripe runningdown eachshoulder. It was absolutely breathtaking and clearly expensive. Kagura turned once again to Kagome, confused. The miko seemed to be doing that a lot to her lately. "Why aren't you wearing this?"

Kagome shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I'm just more used to my scho… my other clothes. It's yours now… I'd never wear it anyway."

Kagura shook her head. "I couldn't accept this!"

"No really, it's yours. Like I said, I really wouldn't ever wear it. And my mom would just get onto me about having nice clothes that I never use and… Nevermind. Just think of it as a thank you gift to replace your ruined one."

"Well if you don't want it, then why do you have?"

"Kaede kinda forced it on me while we were leaving. So I just stuck it in there with the red one. I'm serious though Kagura. If you give it back to me I will tear it to pieces."

Kagura clutched the kimono to her chest as tears came unbidden to her eyes. This one was even nicer than her previous kimono, made so all the more by the fact that it was given to her by someone who cared. Even if her old one hadn't been ruined, she would have gotten rid of it. There was just to many memories that she didn't want associated with it. Every time she wore it she would have been reminded of Naraku. Nonetheless, Kagura reached over and pulled the miko into a big hug. Inuyasha snorted. "For Kami's sake, it's just a piece of cloth! I don't see what you two are getting so worked up about!"

"Inuyasha! Sit!" The poor hanyou slammed into the ground. "You just had to open your big mouth and spoil the moment!" Any reply he had was muffled by two feet of dirt. Kagura smirked, then in a display of childishness, stuck out her tongue at the immobilized hanyou. Much to her embarrassment, Sesshoumaru had chosen that exact moment to return. When she heard him cough discreetly behind her, she whirled around, her face almost the color of her eyes. Fortunately she was saved from further embarrassment by Kagome.

"Finally you're back!" She snapped, exasperated. She gathered up the clothes Kagura had so neatly folded, then dumped the rest on top of them. The three girls headed off for the hot springs. Kagome shouted back to the three men, "Play nice!" ignoring Inuyasha's and Miroku's protests and Sesshoumaru's silent smirk of amusement.

"Is it smart leaving the three of them together like that?" asked Kagura.

"Probably not," Kagome responded with a sadistic grin. "But Inuyasha could use a little humiliating. He's been much too cocky for his own good lately. Besides, the worst that could happen is they kill Miroku. We'd be better off without him anyway…"

Sango cut Kagome off, "Hey!" causing the other two to start laughing. Sango turned a bright red and turned her head away muttering something.

They continued like this until they reached the spring. It was in a small clearing, surrounded by a small rock overhang on the far side and trees on all the others. When the girls reached it, Kagome and Sango immediately began to strip. Kagura hesitated, but soon followed suit.

With a sigh they sank into the spring, letting the hot water caress weary limbs and soothe their cuts and bruises. Taking a deep breath, Kagura immersed herself fully and began scrubbing at her hair. It was still partially matted with blood, her blood, and dirt from their travels. When she came back up, Kagome tossed her a bottle of that strange shampoo' stuff. "Use this Kagura."

"How?"

"It's easy, just watch me." Kagome grabbed the other bottle and poured some in her hands. Then, briefly rubbing her hands together, began scrubbing her hair with it. Following suit, Kagura was amazed at how well the stuff worked. The dirt and blood practically fell out of her hair, leaving it cleaner than she had ever felt it before. That cleanliness was luxuriating. When she was back under Naraku's control she rarely had time for a bath, and though the few she got definitely helped, she was never quite clean. This was like heaven to Kagura.

The girls finished bathing and sat back to simply relax. Kagome turned suddenly to Kagura with a malicious gleam in her eye. "So Kagura, got your eye on anyone yet?"

The memory of Sesshoumaru cradling her to his chest came unbidden to her mind as a slight flush rose to her face. "N… no…" she stammered out.

Kagome's grin got even wider. "Well… you know, Sesshoumaru-sama is a real hottie."

Sango gave Kagome a weird look followed by an equally sadistic grin when it dawned on her. "Last time I checked, he was still single too." She put in.

More than ready to turn Kagome's game back on her she started contemplatively, "Actually, I think I know the perfect man for me…"

"Really," drawled Kagome. "Please, who is it? Do we know him? What's he look like?"

"You do, actually. He's got these gorgeous golden eyes and long silky white hair, and these cute little ears I could just rub all day…"

With a start Kagome realized who she was talking about. "I don't think so! Keep your paws off of my hanyou!" When the other girls started laughing, Kagome sank back down into the water a magnificent shade of red as she realized what she had said. Splashing water at Kagura, she muttered an embarrassed, "Oh, shut up!"

Kagome's attack hit the unprepared Kagura right in the face. She sat there, water dripping from her hair, a slight pout on her face making her look like a bedraggled kitten. She began to sniffle then turned away sobbing.

Sango and Kagome looked at each other, each confused by the youkai's behavior. "Kagura…" Kagome began, but was cut off when the youkai spun around laughing, dragging her arm through the water and sending a wave cascading over the two humans. Kagome stared at her in shock, then splashed water back at her. From there, Armageddon broke lose.

The three of them laughed and shouted, drenching each other time and time again. But for Kagura it was more than just playtime. It was a healing of the soul. The scars left by Naraku began to fade. 'This is freedom,' she though happily. 'The freedom to do what I want to do, to care about who I choose. The freedom to love…' An image of Sesshoumaru flashed briefly into her mind, but was washed out by a particularly large amount of water. "That's it!" Kagura shouted. The two humans stared in shock at Kagura's outburst as she waded over to the edge of the springs then grabbed her fan. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she sent a tidal wave of water crashing down on the Sango and Kagome. The two of them came up sputtering and the three girls dissolved into giggles.

Noticing that it was already darkening, they set back. But as soon as they were within earshot of the camp, Kagura froze. Her friends stopped with her and looked back at her, concern evident on their faces. "I can't do it," she whispered, her face flushed with shame.

"You can't what?" Sango asked with concern.

"I… I can't face Kouga… he doesn't care that I died to save him. He just wants me dead for good. I don't know why he didn't attack before. But now he'll be sure to attack me, and… I can't fight him again…" Kagura hung her head.

"Don't worry, Kagura. There's no way we'll let him hurt you."

"Yeah, you're one of us now!"

"You mean that?"

"Definitely! We don't care what Naraku made you do. You're a good person at heart and if Kouga can't see that he deserves to have someone beat some sense into him!"

Kagura straightened up and smiled weakly at the two of them. They slowly walked back into camp. Unfortunately for Kagura, she was right. Kouga shot to his feet. "You…" he snarled, lunging at Kagura. Inuyasha grabbed for him, but he moved too slowly and Kouga slipped out of his grasp. Fortunately, Sesshoumaru was faster.

Kouga skidded to a halt as Sesshoumaru shielded Kagura, Toukijin drawn. "Damn you, Sesshoumaru. Move or I'll kill you!" he shouted angrily.

"Have you forgotten already, you miserable wolf?"

"I haven't… I just don't give a damn! That bitch killed my clan! She deserves to die!"

"I told you she's already repaid her debt to you." Sesshoumaru replied evenly in the face of the enraged wolf youkai.

"You also told me to stay away from her, but neither of those is going to matter anymore when you're dead!" Kouga dropped into a crouch, ready to lunge at his opponent.

Sesshoumaru didn't move a muscle, except to cock an eyebrow. "Fine. Playtime's over. If you have any last words I suggest you say them now…"

For a moment it seemed that Kouga was actually going to attack the taiyoukai. Then, to everyone's evident relief, except Inuyasha who began cursing avidly, the wolf backed down. "Fine!" he snarled. "You win. Have fun fucking that wind bitch. One day though, I'll kill you Sesshoumaru. And then I'll kill your bitch!" He turned and said quietly, almost sadly, "I thought that you of all people would understand. I was obviously wrong." Then he ran off into the darkness.

Everyone stood in stunned silence as Kouga's last words rang in their ears. Inuyasha was the first to break the silence. "Ha! I never would have guessed… Fluffy and Kagura…!"

Kagome turned and glared at Inuyasha. "Inuyasha! Sit!" The hanyou hit the ground with a highly satisfying thud.

Sesshoumaru looked at him and smirked… "Right where you should be, hanyou. Licking the ground…"

Inuyasha leapt up to attack Sesshoumaru when Kagome sat him again. The two of them began arguing, while Sango went to retrieve Kirara from Miroku. Kagura ignored them though, having eyes only for Sesshoumaru, who had turned to look at her. Unwilling to meet his eyes quite yet, she stared at the ground. "Did you really mean that?"

Sesshoumaru was silent for a minute. "Yes."

"Why?" This time Sesshoumaru did not answer. Lifting her head to look at him, she whispered, "Thank you!" Golden orbs met crimson, and his eyes burned into hers, destroying all coherent thought. She could feel her legs weakening as she stared into his beautiful eyes. It registered somewhere in the back of her mind as he nodded once. Then he was gone…

* * *

Sesshoumaru ran blindly through the forest, needing desperately to clear his head. What had he just done? Although he had never much liked Kouga or his clan, he had to admit that they had always been staunch allies. And now he had cast that all away? All for a woman! And a child of Naraku no less!

Suddenly a sharp pain in his side reminded him of his wound and he stopped and sat down on the ground. Even despite the insistent ache in his side, Sesshoumaru felt better. Running always cleared his mind, allowed him to think rationally in those few moments that he lost it. The fell of his legs pounding the ground, the wind whistling through his hair and past his ears, was mind-numbing and always helped when he needed to simply quit thinking and allow his mind some time to sort through his emotions.

What was it about her that caused him to act irrationally? He was Sesshoumaru! The son of the Inu Taishou! A youkai worthy of his father's blood! No woman should be able to affect him so. Nobody should be able to affect him so!

But just the sight of her, wet hair hanging past her shoulders, damp kimono clinging partially to her skin, crimson eyes flashing defiantly even as she accepted her fate was enough to make him destroy centuries of peace between the dogs and the wolves. True it was only one small clan, and Kouga had been disobeying a direct mandate from his lord, but it was the principal of the matter. He hadn't thought about those things before he threw himself in the way. He hadn't considered the consequences or how it would benefit him. He had done nothing, simply reacted to the fact that she was in danger. Kouga's words rang mockingly through his mind. "Have fun fucking the wind bitch… your bitch…"

"Kagura," he whispered. 'That's what all of them think, isn't it? That she's mine… that I'm… fucking… her.' He remembered Inuyasha's words, … "You and Kagura… huh!" He shook his head, his hair flying out behind him. 'No… they're wrong! I'm just a male after all! Even I have desires every once in a while. This is nothing that wouldn't disappear with a cold bath and something else to occupy his time with.'

He stood quickly. 'I have to leave before I do something else I'll regret!' Then he hesitated. What if Kouga tried something after all? He steeled his resolve. 'She was more than capable of taking care of the wolf. She's proven it more times then one could count. I should never have gotten involved to began with…' With one last glance towards the camp, Sesshoumaru disappeared into the night.

* * *

Kagura curled up on her feather, hovering high above the ground. With a sigh she pillowed her head on her arm and closed her eyes, reveling in the feel of the wind on her face. She could hear Kagome and Inuyasha arguing below her and the sound brought a contented smile to her face. She was free! Finally and completely free! And she had people who cared about her, even though she had given them no reason to. She had everything she had ever wanted! So why did it feel like something was still missing?

The memory of Sesshoumaru defending her began to play back through her mind. She had been ready to die rather than fight Kouga again, when all of the sudden Sesshoumaru was in front of her, shielding her from Kouga with his own body. He had been protecting her all day, and she hadn't realized it. He had told Kouga in no uncertain terms what would happen if he tried to hurt her, and he had followed through on his threat.

She realized better than anyone there what all that had happened meant. Naraku was a master at manipulating people like that, destroying alliances and setting former allies against each other. She had picked up a good deal of that over her servitude. But Sesshoumaru hadn't required Naraku's helpful hand. He had thrown it all away on his own. And for her…

Why? Why on earth would that cold, uncompassionate taiyoukai defend her? Could it be possible that he might… No. He can't take that stick out of his ass long enough to befriend anyone, much less love them…

Kagura sighed and curled up tighter on her feather. 'Sesshoumaru would never want someone like me. Kouga and Inuyasha were wrong. There had to be some other reason for Sesshoumaru to defend her. He would never love anyone.' She sighed again. 'That doesn't mean I can't dream does it?' She thought back to earlier that day when she had nearly kissed Sesshoumaru. And then to even earlier when he had held her as she was dying. A bittersweet memory. Dying does put a damper on situations like that. She shuddered remembering the pain and the numbing darkness. Then Kanna's words to her while she was dead sprang into her mind. "You must save him from himself…" Kagura fell asleep with those disconcerting words echoing through her mind.

* * *

So…. How did ya'll like it? This is my first Inuyasha fanfic ever so try and be gentle with me.

* * *

_Edit: Hey everyone, as you can see its been nine months since this chapter was first published. I just wanted to go ahead and apologize to everyone who's been waiting for me to update. I know... I'm a failure at life, but hey, what's done is done. I'll just have to do better next time. But anyways, please bear with me. I really will try to do better._

* * *

C ya'll next time,

Cute and Fluffy


	2. Introspection

Crimson and Gold

By Cute and Fluffy

* * *

Kagura finally wins back her heart and freedom from Naraku and she is at a loss for what to do. But what happens when her heart is suddenly stolen by another, and that thief happens to be a certain taiyoukai who is at a loss for what to do with his own? (Sesshoumaru x Kagura)

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own 'em. The plot and any OC's I create are mine alone. So paws off!

* * *

Crimson and Gold

Chapter 2: Introspection

By the time Kagura awoke, the sun was just beginning to rise into the sky. She sat on her feather watching as the sun painted the sky a hundred different shades of blue and red. The magnificence was breathtaking. Back when she was under Naraku's control she never had the time to watch the sunrise. So now she simply sat there, the wind gently rocking her feather, blowing her hair back behind her, and took in one of the simpler pleasures life had to offer.

Down below she heard someone moving around. Lowering herself down towards the ground, she found Inuyasha sitting in a tree watching her, his amber eyes hooded. No one else seemed to be awake yet. She stopped and hovered at eyelevel with the hanyou. An awkward silence filled the air as Inuyasha averted his eyes to watch Kagome sleep.

Kagura glanced briefly at the sleeping girl. "She cares for you very much." She looked back at the hanyou.

A look of longing flickered briefly in his eyes, a look that tugged at her heartstrings for the poor hanyou. Nonetheless it was quickly replaced by disbelief. "Keh." He snorted derisively.

Kagura whacked him upside the head with her fan. "Oi, bitch! What the hell is your problem!"

Kagura gave him a look that clearly said 'Idiot'. "That was for being the dumb-ass your brother…"

"Half-brother," Inuyasha corrected absentmindedly.

"…says you are," she told him matter-of-factly. "I might be new to this whole thing, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid. Have you seen the way she looks at you?"

Inuyasha tried to speak but was interrupted prematurely when Kagura hit him with her fan again. "No interrupting! I'm still talking to you." Inuyasha sat back sullenly and rubbed his head with one claw. "Of course, I could be wrong. I mean, its not like I really know Kagome that well. And just look at you! I can't imagine what could ever possess anyone to want…" her eyes trailed up and down his form with a disgusted grimace on her face, softened by the mischievous in her eyes, "…that."

"Shut up bitch!" Inuyasha snapped back and then felt the sting of her fan coming, once again, into contact with his head. He swiped at it with a snarl, but missed as Kagura pulled it swiftly out of his reach.

"Now, now, Inuyasha. You really shouldn't speak to a woman that way." She shook one finger at him as if chastising a pup.

He glared sullenly at her for a moment, then leaned back against the tree, ears flattened on his head. Unwilling to let her have the last word he muttered, "Bitch," just as Kagome woke up.

Kagura looked down at her as she sat up with an enormous yawn, then back at Inuyasha. Deciding that Kagome wouldn't notice since she was still half-asleep, she snapped her fan open with a flick of her wrist and with another flick hit Inuyasha with a gust of wind strong enough to push the hanyou out of the tree. He immediately let out a string of curses that would have made a sailor proud, but was cut off as his face impacted the ground with a satisfying thump.

Satisfied that he had learned his lesson for the time being, Kagura floated down to the ground. She stepped lightly off her feather and over to Kagome, and reached down and plucked her feather out of the air, shrinking it down to its normal size and sticking it in her hair.

Kagome looked blankly around, stared at Kagura, and blinked twice before actually noticing her. "Oh, good morning Kagura!" The young miko smiled happily at the wind youkai.

Kagura smiled back. "Good morning, Kagome. Its about time you woke up." Her smile widened to take the sting from her words.

Kagome snorted, a bad habit she had picked up from Inuyasha, and threw a stick at Kagura's head. "I would have been up earlier if someone had let me sleep." She shot a pointed glare at the tree Inuyasha had slept in before noticing he wasn't there anymore. Kagura grinned and inclined her head towards where Inuyasha still lay twitching on the ground. "What…"

Kagura stopped her with a smile and a rueful shake of her head. "Don't ask."

At that point Inuyasha had managed to regain his feet and stood up. "It's not my fault that the bastard wouldn't leave. If he had just taken the hint I wouldn't have had to kick his wolf-ass out." He stopped and grinned roguishly, "Not that I didn't enjoy doing it."

Kagura looked at him blankly for a moment before realizing that he was responding to Kagome's earlier accusation. Then his words sank in and she looked around in surprise. Kouga was gone. It was just the three of them, the monk, the taijiya, and the kitsune cub. She gave a short sigh of relief. She wouldn't have to deal with Kouga. She turned to thank Inuyasha just as a horrible realization hit her.

It was just them. She looked around, hoping, wishing, but she wasn't wrong. Sesshoumaru was gone. She turned to Kagome and asked, "Where's Sesshoumaru?" hoping that perhaps he hadn't left them, that he was just… taking a bath. Or something.

Kagome had noticed her new friend's sudden distress and her question put everything in perspective for her. Realizing that Kagura probably didn't want her crush known to Inuyasha, for obvious reasons, she settled for the an indifferent tone of voice, although the consoling hand she placed on the youkai's shoulder, hidden from Inuyasha's view, spoke differently. "He left too."

Inuyasha had narrowed his eyes at Kagura when she asked and hadn't taken them off her since. Somehow Kagura managed to control her emotions and turned to the hanyou with an irritated look on her face. "It's not nice to stare at people, Inuyasha. Don't you have some rabbit chasing to do or something?"

Inuyasha studied her for a few more seconds before turning away with his trademark. "Keh."

Kagome suddenly spoke up, "Inuyasha, will you go get us something to eat?" When he didn't answer she gave him her best puppy-dog pout. "Please…"

"Whatever." He ran off into the forest before she could say another word.

Kagome waited a few more seconds before turning back to Kagura. "I'm sorry, Kagura."

Kagura sat down heavily, "He didn't even say goodbye…" she muttered disappointedly.

"Yeah, well, ol' Fluffy ain't exactly the most considerate of people. Besides, it's his loss. You'll find someone even better than him, he didn't deserve you to begin with."

Kagura smiled weakly. "You're right Kagome."

"Of course I'm right. Now lets wake up the others or we won't get off until midnight… tomorrow."

Kagura stood up with a laugh and went off to wake up her new friends. _'That's right. It's his loss. I don't need him. I don't know what I was even thinking. He's just a cold bastard, like he could ever love anyone…'_ And despite her resolve to forget about him, she couldn't quite get rid of the dull ache in her heart.

* * *

Sesshoumaru's ears twitched at the sound of the chirping of a newly awakened bird. He sat up and rubbed his shoulder, trying to ease the cramp that had developed from sleeping on a rather nasty rock all night. Unable to block out the song of the confounded bird, he settled for throwing a rock at it instead. With a sharp squawk of pain, the infernal noise stopped. Sesshoumaru was not a morning person.

But the annoying bird wasn't the whole reason Sesshoumaru woke up irritated. He was angry with himself, angry and ashamed. He had run away from a mere woman. And a spawn of Naraku at that! He had put his tail between his legs and high-tailed it out of there.

His behavior was absolutely disgraceful. There was no excuse whatsoever for it. Still, he had to wonder if it wasn't for the better. It wasn't only his hasty flight that had him pissed off at himself, it was his actions beforehand. Everything from the moment that he took that damned woman in his arm.

There was something about her that caused him to act irrationally. Even before yesterday, he couldn't seem to act intelligently around her. He could remember the day they first met. Rin started running towards him, excitement evident on her face, but it soon turned to confusion when he told her to freeze. At the time, he thought it was Naraku. Now, he wished it had been.

She wanted him to kill Naraku for her. She tried to bribe him to kill Naraku for her. But he refused, saying that he would do it his way, and in his time. But there was a little voice in his head that whispered to him, telling him the truth about his refusal. He didn't say no because of some sense of honor. He said no because deep down, he wanted to do it just for her. He said no because he wanted her to realize he didn't need payment, she just needed to ask…

The woman affected him in ways nobody else had ever done to him before. And even though he didn't want to admit it to himself, or anybody else, deep down in his heart, it scared him. Whenever he was around her he wanted to protect her, shelter her… hold her, touch her, take her. She made him feel things he had never felt before, evoked new and frightening emotions within him.

It wasn't even as if he had never been with a woman before. If he hadn't, it might have been excusable. But Sesshoumaru was no stranger to a woman's touch. He was a man after all, and sometimes he simply needed a release from the tensions of his life. But when that happened, he would simply find a beautiful youkai and fuck her. No strings attached. Just a simple one-night stand. He knew it, she knew it, and they liked it that way.

He remembered vividly the day his father had died. That day he had made a vow to himself. He had vowed never to let his emotions control him. And even more so, he had vowed never to let a women control him. Well, he had broken his vow last night, broken it first when he allowed himself to be manipulated into defending the wench against Kouga.

His father had worked hard to maintain peace between the inu-youkai and the ookami-youkai. And he had thrown out all of his father's labor, all for a woman. Granted, it was one small, insignificant tribe, but it was the fact of the matter. What was to keep it from happening again?

No. He would not allow it. He was Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands, strongest of the youkai. He would not allow himself to be manipulated by a woman. He would not meet the same end as his father. For now, it would be best to stay away from Kagura. He simply needed some time to clear his head, to heal. Once he was rested he was sure he would regain his senses. And the next time they met, it would be different.

Sesshoumaru stood back up on his feet. He summoned up his cloud and began the journey back to his abode. And he didn't look back.

* * *

Sorry this chapter was so short, this one really wasn't so much chapter two as it is an add-on to chapter one.

I had a couple comments about how Sesshoumaru seemed OOC. So I wrote this one to explain why Sesshoumaru was acting the way he was. If you didn't get it from this chapter, which you prolly didn't, I wasn't quite happy with this one myself. It's harder than I thought it would be to get across what he's supposed to be feeling so that's why I'm explaining myself here. Sesshoumaru is feeling things for Kagura he's never felt before. He doesn't know what these feelings are, just that they are causing him to act what he views as foolishly. And that scares him. And since he didn't know how else to deal with it at the time, he ran. Now he's pissed off at himself for it, but still thinks he needs to stay away from her. That's about it.

* * *

On another important note, I probably should have stated this in the first chapter, but quite frankly I'm a little to lazy to go back and change that so I'm just gonna tack it on her. For the time being this is rated T for cussing, and perhaps for a little violence every now and then. At the moment, I don't have any real plans on putting any lemons in this, though the way I'm leaning with this story that is a distinct possibility, but if that happens we'll deal with that then. But until then we're just gonna keep it T. So if you don't like cussing, you probably shouldn't read this then. There shouldn't be too much, but it's there. Just warning you...

* * *

C ya'll later,

Cute and Fluffy


	3. Worries

Crimson and Gold

by Cute and Fluffy

* * *

Kagura finally wins back her heart, and her freedom, from Naraku and when he is finally destroyed she is at a loss for what to do. But what happens when her heart is suddenly stolen by another? And what happens when that thief happens to be a certain silver-haired, gold-eyed youkai who doesn't know what to do with his own? (Sesshoumaru x Kagura)

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own 'em. The plot and any original characters I may create are mine alone though. So paws off!

* * *

Crimson and Gold

Chapter 3: Worries

* * *

2 years later…

Kagome heard a melodious song outside in the garden, and knew that Kagura was hard at work tending her flowers once again. She smiled, who would have guessed that Naraku's child would have taken such a liking to something as simple as growing flowers. Or singing, another thing that Kagura had been doing quite often as of late, especially while tending to her precious plants. Not that Kagome particularly minded; Kagura had a beautiful singing voice.

She was most definitely grateful that Kagura had decided to stay with them two years ago; she had quickly become part of their little family. Even Inuyasha accepted her with that same grudging respect he gave to everyone else. Kagome remembered the day that had come about. It had been shortly after Sango and Miroku had tied the knot and had left on their journey to Sango's family's village so that Sango could say her final goodbyes. She was finally moving on for good.

Kagura had been gone off on a journey of her own when the newly-weds left, and Shippo was spending the night at one of his friends, leaving Kagome and Inuyasha alone for the first time in quite a while. And while Kagome had been excited about spending some time with Inuyasha, he just had to be in one of his moods. After their third spat that afternoon, she had stormed out of the house to take a walk in order to clear her head. Unfortunately for her, that was the same time a small group of panther youkai decided to raid the village. She was on her way back when they attacked her, but as luck would have it, Inuyasha had caught their scent on the wind and had gotten there quickly enough to protect her. He made quick work of the raiders, but didn't realize there was another one lying among his dead companions. As soon as Inuyasha had his back turned to Kagome it had sprung at her. Hearing her scream, he could only watch in horror as it flew through the air at her, claws outstretched. Kagome still had nightmares sometimes about it, seeing those claws just inches from her face, feeling his hot, rancid breath washing over her, and then feeling the splatter of blood as he landed on her. Fortunately that blood wasn't hers. Kagura had gotten there just in time to tear the youkai to pieces with her Fuujin no Mai. And as happy as Kagome was that she was still alive and unharmed, having the front half of a dead panther youkai on top of her, his head in her face, and the rest either spattered all over her or lying on the ground around her, did not do much to improve her mood. Nor the fact that Kagura was leaning up against a tree, doubled over in laughter at the look on Inuyasha and her faces. Kagome did have to admit though; Inuyasha really did look like he had "pissed himself" as Kagura so bluntly put it.

That was another thing that Kagome had to thank the wind youkai for as well. Almost since she had met him Kagome had tried everything to get that stupid hanyou to fall in love with her. And although she knew he did, he probably never would have admitted it to himself or her, if it hadn't been for Kagura. The woman was absolutely devious when it came to matchmaking, another hobby Kagome wouldn't have expected her to take up. Kagome never did find out what exactly Kagura did to Inuyasha to make him admit it to himself, but for weeks after Inuyasha finally made his admission, the poor hanyou had avoided Kagura like the plague.

Kagome smiled warmly as she gently fingered the bite mark at the base of her neck. Inuyasha had finally made her his mate not even two months ago, and while they were still going to have a human ceremony, Kagome was more than willing to reap the benefits of being married in the youkai sense. She blushed furiously remembering Inuyasha's amorousness; he was almost as bad as Miroku now. Not that she really minded of course, plus she was sure he had tons more stamina thanks to his demon half, and _dear god_ his tongue…

Kagome turned back towards the garden, to where Kagura's voice still sang softly. Thanks in part to her, she had everything she had ever dreamed of. But Kagome still felt sorry for the wind youkai, it was obvious that Kagura wanted something like what Kagome had. Kagome could see the longing in her eyes every time she looked at her.

Of course, it wasn't as if there was any lack of men for Kagura to pick from. It seemed that males, and not just youkai, were falling all over themselves to court her. But it seemed like none of them were good enough for her by Kagura's standards. Sometimes Kagome had to wonder just who she was comparing them to that made them so unworthy.

Kagome slapped her forehead; it was obvious who she was comparing them to. Well, maybe not quite obvious, but clear enough to anyone who had desire enough to find out. Kagome heard her whisper his name softly in her sleep every now and then and she often saw Kagura just staring off to the west for no reason. The wind youkai had fallen hard for a certain inu youkai. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl; she highly doubted that Sesshoumaru would ever return her feelings.

Kagome sighed and returned to hanging up the clothes. Kagura was her own woman, and a strong one at that. She could make her own decisions. Suddenly a wide grin split Kagome's face. But just because Kagura was capable of doing it, didn't mean Kagome couldn't return the favor and give her a little help…

* * *

Sesshoumaru stood on a hill, his land spread out for miles in front of him, the wind blowing his silver hair behind him. Eyes closed, he sniffed the air one last time, analyzing it for signs of trouble. Something seemed out of a place, however his desire to go home vastly overpowered any inclination to investigate. Sensing nothing else, he summoned up his cloud and took to the air. It was time for him to return. He briefly wondered if Jaken had moved them to the mountain house like he had ordered him to before he had left. Sesshoumaru dismissed the thought almost as quickly, Jaken had yet to disobey him. And besides, that was Rin's favorite house. The child would have pestered the poor toad to death until he had taken her.

Sesshoumaru allowed himself a small smile at the thought of his ward. No, not ward, daughter. He hated to admit it to himself, but he genuinely cared for the human. Rin's smiling face appeared in his mind. He still didn't know why he had allowed the girl to come with him to begin with, but over the past few years the girl had grown on him, grown on everybody for that matter. Even Jaken cared for the girl, though he never would be able to admit. Of course, he had to in order to put up with half of the stuff Rin put him through. She was a devious little child. Sesshoumaru smiled, she and Kagura would get along marvelously.

At the thought of Kagura, he couldn't help but groan as he remembered the dreams that had sprung up once again. Ever sense his hasty departure two years ago he had been plagued by dreams of her. They came and went seemingly on a whim, and he usually stopped sleeping whenever they reared their head. It was all he could do after waking up from one of them to keep his self-control. And that was simply unacceptable. However the dreams had lasted much longer this time; it had been nearly two months sense he had gotten more than a couple hours of sleep at a time.

Sesshoumaru realized that he had reached his limit. Even as a youkai, lack of sleep dulled his wits and weakened his body, and Sesshoumaru hated weakness. He had put sleep off for far too long this time. He had gone longer periods of time without sleep of course, but never while on a long patrol of his domain. With all the strenuous activity, he could barely stand straight on his own two feet. His mind wandered, often leaving for minutes on end, leaving him wondering exactly what he had been doing.

Sesshoumaru growled and shook his head, his long silver hair flying out behind him. He was doing it again, allowing his mind to wander off. No, matter, he was only a few miles away from the mountain house they were currently occupying. But still… it bothered him that he couldn't rid himself of that wench. Realizing that he was once again losing focus, he ground his fist into his forehead with a frustrated growl.

He began to focus on upcoming tasks, planning out his stay in the mountains. His first priority was Rin. As much as he hated to admit it, Rin was growing up and she needed more than just him and Jaken to teach her… things. She needed a female companion that she could talk with and who could teach her everything she needed to know. He ran through a quick inventory of the women he knew, outside of those ridiculous "noble" youkai who were constantly pestering him to mate with one of their daughters, the list was incredibly few. In fact, he could count them all on his one hand. But like hell he was going to put up with one of those prissy court bitches again.

As he was contemplating what he was going to do with her, the mountains came into view. Just in time too, he wasn't sure he could control the cloud much longer. Normally it required minimal energy, but the energy drain throughout the past few weeks coupled with his lack of focus was making it extremely hard to maintain the spell.

This particular house was not only Rin's favorite, but it was his favorite out of the many residences his father left to him. It wasn't too large, but it was still big enough to keep him and his entourage quite comfortable, and still provide room for a small group of servants. It was made in the traditional Japanese style that his father favored, and Sesshoumaru had to admit, his father did have good taste when it came to architecture.

And not only was the house both beautiful and practical, but its location was just amazing as well. It was situated up on a large cliff on the side of one of the largest mountains in the west. The view from there was simply magnificent, but even more so at dusk. The sun sets right in front of house in the most marvelous display of colors Sesshoumaru had ever seen anywhere.

Of course, like all the houses the former Inu no Taisho had built, this one was not only a work of art in and of itself, but it was practical too. The cliff it was built on was nearly impossible to scale, youkai or not. Since it was built back from the edge of the cliff, and it was an incredibly wide cliff, it was utterly impossible to see from the ground, and you really had to be looking for it to notice it from the air. That combined with all the protective spells and wards surrounding the house made it nigh invincible.

But none of those were the real reasons that Sesshoumaru loved this one more than any of the others. True it was magnificent, but so were all the others. No, it was the garden that made this one so important. To be more precise, it was his mother's garden. The Inu no Taisho had this house built just for her and she spent more time in it than any place else, a good deal of it growing flowers of every kind. His father had the most fertile soil from all over Japan brought here so she could grow them.

One of his few memories of his mother was of her working among these very plants. And while the garden was still beautiful, it was just missing something that it had back then. Nowadays it was taken care of by an old water youkai that his father had hired after his mother died. She was one of the two servants that stayed here; the other was a simple cat youkai that Sesshoumaru had hired to take care of the place when he was gone.

By this point Sesshoumaru was in sight of the house and as he came down for a landing, Jaken came running outside shouting for him at the top of his lungs. "Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Sesshoumaru immediately tensed, realizing something was wrong. The smaller youkai practically radiated despair. "My lord, my lord! The have Rin!"

* * *

First of all, I apologize for ending it with a cliff-hanger this early in the story. This just seemed like the best place to end it, otherwise it would have gone on for a while. Secondly, and most importantly, I am really sorry to everyone who read this story when I first published it. If ya'll read my authors note in the first chapter, I did say I was a procrastinator. And in my defense, I'm normally not this bad, but I just kept putting off updating till tommorow until I kinda forgot about it. I'm going to try to stay on top of things this time though.

Anyways, I apologize again for not updating in so long. And thanks to anyone and everyone who reads and enjoys this story. Just remember, an author loves to hear how good their writing is, and I'm no exception. So send me an email or write up a review or whatever. And like always, if anyone seems to particularly out of character or there's other big problems with the story, please tell me. I hate embarrasing myself. Thanks ya'll.

* * *

C ya'll next time,

Cute and Fluffy


	4. Winds of Fate

Crimson and Gold  
By Cute and Fluffy

* * *

Kagura finally wins back her heart, and her freedom, from Naraku and when he is finally destroyed she is at a loss for what to do. But what happens when her heart is suddenly stolen by another? And what happens when that thief happens to be a certain silver-haired, gold-eyed youkai who doesn't know what to do with his own? (Sesshoumaru x Kagura)

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own them. The plot and any original characters I may create are mine alone though. So don't take em!

* * *

_I'd like to dedicate this chapter to C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only. When I posted the last chapter after waiting for forever, within minutes C.A.M.E.O. had posted a review, which, though I'm sure was just coincidence, still amused me somewhat. So, like I said, this chapter is dedicated to you C.A.M.E.O._

* * *

Crimson and Gold  
Chapter 4: The Winds of Fate

* * *

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" his attention immediately snapped over to Jaken. He tensed immediately knowing that something was horribly wrong. The smaller youkai practically oozed despair. "My lord, they have Rin!"

Sesshoumaru was in front of him in an instant, all weariness long forgotten. He lifted Jaken up in the air by his throat, his claws drawing blood. "Who has her," he growled ominously.

"Snake youkai," gasped out Jaken. He raised his arm, pointing to the East where they had gone. "There were too many of them. They ambushed us a few miles away from the mountain, killed the guards, and took Rin. I tried to stop them but…"Sesshoumaru flung the toad away from him, cutting off his story. In a flash he had reached the edge of the cliff and dove off.

If he hadn't been so furious he might have enjoyed himself. The wind whipped around him as he plummeted downward towards the ground. Just before he hit the ground he righted himself, landing feet first before falling forward into a roll to keep from breaking his legs. The roll took all that downward velocity and transformed it into forward momentum and quick as a lightning Sesshoumaru was on the trail of Rin's abductors.

Now that Jaken had pointed it out to him, Sesshoumaru could smell their scent, that same smell that had bothered him earlier, but that he had dismissed. He blamed himself for Rin's kidnapping. If he had been there, if he had investigated the scent, if he hadn't been so damn tired, none of this would have happened.

All these thoughts raced through his head, fanning the fury that had sprang up inside of him when he had found out. If anybody had seen him as he raced on towards his Rin, they would have fled in terror. Red was bleeding into the edges of his eyes and his fangs were bared in a silent snarl, his face set in such a look of fury that the sight of him would have scent all but the strongest, or most foolish, warriors running.

Night fell and still Sesshoumaru ran on, the rancid scent of his quarry dragging him forward. His mind was shrouded in a blood-red veil, a fog that demanded blood to be satisfied. 'How dare they try to take her from me?! If even a single hair on her head has been harmed…'

And still he ran. He knew nothing other than the scent of his foe, neither the passage of time nor the landscape that flew past him. Not even the screams of his weary body. All of them were nothing compared to his Rin.

The first rays of light burst over the horizon as night turned into dawn. Then, just as the night had done before it, dawn gave way to the day and still Sesshoumaru ran on. He knew he was getting close, their scent had been getting stronger and stronger since dawn. Then, before he knew it, he had caught up with them and he was slowing down to a stop. Even in his enraged state of mind he realized that it would be foolish to simply attack head on. Rin could easily get hurt.

They were camped on the edge of a forest at the borders of his land. There were perhaps twenty of them, all carrying a weapon of some sort. Quietly he circled around them, just outside of their sight, before hiding in the forest at the edge of their camp.

Half of them were still lying around sleeping, and judging by the bottles lying all over the place, they were still sleeping off a night spent getting incredibly drunk. They were stolen no doubt from one of the few towns in this area of his domain. He began looking frantically for Rin, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he spotted her. However his relief was short-lived when he saw the condition she was in.

They had tied her up and propped her up against a tree not far from him. They had treated her like dirt apparently, though to be honest he hadn't expected anything different, even if he had hoped that she was ok. Her face dirty and bruised, they had likely beaten her for fun the past few nights. Her little kimono was torn and dirtied, and he could smell the scent of blood and tears coming from her. Fortunately for them, Rin's virtue was still intact, since he couldn't smell any of them on her.

As he examined Rin, that white-hot fury that had been building inside of him since he had learned of her kidnapping blazed up even hotter and without hesitation he walked straight into the camp, went up to Rin, and untied her. He knelt down beside Rin as she burst out crying, burying her face in his chest. Looking behind him, he saw the snake youkai who were awake just staring dumbly at him. Apparently, they had drunk far too much sake last night.

Holding her close with his one arm he whispered softly to her, "Rin, are you alright?"

She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes and nodded once. He watched her as she tried hard to stop crying. Once she was only sniffling, he told her softly, but firmly, "Rin, stay here. Do not move from this spot."

Then he got up, and his sudden movement seemed to wake up the youkai from their stupor. They immediately started yelling and hissing at him, as they scrambled all over each other for their weapons. The youkai who had still been asleep, woke up to the screams and yells of their allies, and immediately began to panic, making everything worse. He watched all this with a sadistic smirk, fangs bared at those who had dared to touch what was his. But even though he was enraged, he refused to stoop to their level and waited until some semblance of order returned and they were ready to face him. He held up his single claw, and they watched with horror as it began to grow a sickly green. Then, with an enraged howl, he attacked.

* * *

'What a beautiful day' thought Kagura to herself, as she lay on the roof of the house she shared with Kagome and Inu Yasha, when she was here at least, watching the clouds. A cool breeze swept over her, gently blowing a few stray hairs over her face. She stared cross-eyed at one lock that had settled right between her eyes, before screwing up her face trying to blow it off. She just lay there, blowing furiously, if futilely at the stubborn strands until she began to feel light-headed. She sat up with a sheepish smile and brushed her hair back, glad that no one had been around to witness that particular burst of silliness. She sighed, just imagining the look on everybody's face had they seen that.

She sighed, her buoyant attitude mellowing out somewhat. She rested her head on an arm and looked out over the village that she had made her home. She was lucky and she knew it. She didn't doubt for a minute that everybody would have been as accepting of her if it weren't for Kagome, but that only made her more grateful to the young miko. She owed Kagome a debt she could never repay.

That didn't mean that the Inu Yasha's mate didn't irritate the hell out of her. Especially as of late. The crazy woman had taken it into her mind that she needed a mate herself. For the past couple of weeks, she had been pestering her day after day with this man or that. Kagura wasn't even sure how Kagome found all these guys. There was no way that this village held that many single men.

Nonetheless, that was why she had taken refuge on her roof this fine day. She had heard from Inu Yasha, who was as annoyed with Kagome's matchmaking as Kagura was, that a traveler had arrived this morning. Some handsome cat youkai apparently. But if she knew Kagome, the poor guy would be lucky if Kagome didn't drag him all over the town until they found her. But that was his problem, not Kagura's. All she was concerned about was making sure that they didn't find her.

All of the sudden Kagura heard her name being shouted in the distance. "Speak of the devil…" she groaned and immediately collapsed back down against the roof. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like she had been fast enough.

"Kagura!" She heard Kagome's voice coming from in front of her house. Kagura went dead silent, refusing even to breathe, hoping beyond hope that she hadn't seen her. "Kagura, I know you're up there. I've already seen you."

Stifling another groan, she sat up and looked down at Kagome, who was staring up at her and looking decidedly pleased with herself. She smiled sweetly down at Kagome, though her voice was laced with undertones of sarcasm. "Oh, hey there Kagome. I must not have heard you. It must be this cold I've come down with. My head's all fogged up. I suppose I'm just going to have to stay here and rest till I get better."

Kagome snorted to herself, a decidedly unladylike habit that she had picked up from Inu Yasha, knowing full well that the demon that could catch a cold had yet to be born. "Oh, you poor thing. I know just thing to get you better in not time. Come on down so I can give it to you."

"Oh no, there's no way that I could impose on you. I'll be just fine with a little bit of rest."

"Oh, but I insist. What kind of friend would I be if I abandoned a friend in her time of need?"

"No really, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

An irritated scowl crossed Kagome's face. "Kagura, get down here now!"

Grumbling to herself about irritating humans and stupid men, Kagura rose to her feet and jumped gracefully to the ground below. "I'm not going along with your stupid matchmaking scheme."

"Oh, come on, Kagura. It's time you got yourself a man. Please Kagura, for me…" Kagome made her best puppy-dog face.

Kagura just smirked at her. "Oh please, I'm not Inu Yasha. I'm lacking the… parts… that make that work so well."

A light blush appeared on Kagome's face, but she ignored it and went on begging Kagura. "Come on… he's hardly hard on the eyes. Plus he's charming, and funny, and a perfect gentleman. Besides, what do you have to lose?"

Kagura sighed. "I don't know, Kagome. I just…" she trailed off seeing the dark scowl that crossed Kagome's face. Kagura knew exactly what that scowl promised. Kagome always got that scowl on her face, just before she tore into Kagura about Sesshoumaru. No matter what she told the miko, it never seemed to get through her head that she was over him, and Kagura was not in the mood to put up with another one right now. "Fine," she said resignedly. "I'll meet the prat. But I'm _not_ promising anything."

Kagome beamed at her. "Thank you, Kagura. I promise you won't regret it." Kagome grabbed Kagura's hand and started dragging her along behind her. "You have to meet him right away. Oh, you're going to love him Kagura…"

Kagura turned her out as she started babbling on excitedly about how great this guy was. She should have known Kagome would drag her there right away. Nope, the tricky little miko had left her no chance of escape. The woman was a force of nature in her own right.

She sighed and then stiffened suddenly as a cold wind blew out of the west. Kagura might not have had Inu Yasha's nose, but the winds were part of her and she could feel what this wind carried with it. Bloodshed and hatred and despair and a strange aura that she felt like she should recognize. Kagura shuddered. This did not bode well for her. This did not bode well for her at all…

* * *

Sesshoumaru staggered over to where Rin sat weeping once more. He had not meant for her to witness that sort of bloodshed - ever - but he was simply too tired and he had lost control to his inner demon. As he knelt down next to her and went to gently wipe away her tears, he flinched at the look of horror on her face as she backed away from his touch. Suddenly, all the weariness from his desperate chase to the fight and the many wounds he had gotten in it came rushing back twofold. He should have had no problem with this pathetic youkai, they were nothing compared to him. But he had gotten slashed in a dozen different places and he was sure that the lucky hit one of them had scored with a makeshift club had broken at least two ribs, by the intense agony in his side that came with every breath.

But as he struggled with the need to collapse where he knelt, he watched horrified as Rin suddenly began to cough. He rushed over there, desperate to make sure that she was alright. Her face was flushed and her skin where he touched her was clammy. Suddenly he heard a rasping laugh behind him and he turned around to stare at the offender, one of the dying youkai.

The snake was lying intact on the ground, unlike many of the Rin's other kidnappers, but he could see the fleshy pink of his entrails poking out from beneath him, and Sesshoumaru realized that he had probably ripped his stomach open. Judging from the pool of blood around the dying youkai, Sesshoumaru realized that the fool had very little time left in this world.

But the demon's dying words struck him to the core. Through rasping breaths the demon laughed, "You might have killed us," he rasped before breaking off into a coughing fit, "but she's next. She's been poisoned, and there's nothing you can do to help her!" The snake youkai broke out into a coughing laugh, before a look of agony crossed his face. He then smirked evilly at Sesshoumaru, "We'll be waiting for you in hell…" then his eyes closed and he released his last shuddering breath.

Sesshoumaru stared horrified at the now dead youkai, his last words had struck him to the core. He knew how effective the poison of a snake demon was, he had utilized them as assassin's more than once, and he knew that unless he got Rin help soon, she wouldn't survive.

He searched his mind desperately for any way to save his adopted daughter, but nothing came to mind. Then he realized that the village where Inu Yasha lived with his miko wasn't too far from here. He remembered the miko, she might have been a little slip of a girl, but she was powerful nonetheless and there was no doubt in his mind that she could save Rin. Desperately, he gathered her into his arm and began to make his way to the east where the village should be. He just hoped that she was still there.

He started off at a run, but just minutes in he had to slow down to a light jog. He just didn't have enough strength left. Nonetheless he persisted on, driven on by the desperate need to save Rin. Just like before, when he had chased down the snake youkai, the only thing that kept his weary body going was his inner demon, driving him on to protect what was his.

He kept on, heedless of the brambles that tore at his clothes, or the branches that clawed at his face. All that mattered was his Rin. Miles went by and he slowed to a walk, unable to maintain even a light jog. But still he went on, his inner demon gaining greater possession over his body with each passing moment.

Eventually though, after what seemed like hours to Sesshoumaru, he simply couldn't go on. For the past hour or so, he had forced his exhausted body to take each step, driven forward by instinct. By this point, his demon, had taken full control, but even it lacked the willpower to keep on going.

Suddenly his foot caught on a dead branch lying on the ground, and he began to fall. Unwilling to let Rin get hurt, he twisted, landing painfully on his left shoulder with a sickening snap. He tried to get back up, but his strength was completely exhausted. And for the first time in his life, Sesshoumaru gave up.

He realized that he had no idea where he was, didn't even know where the village where the miko lived was, just that it was somewhere in this direction, or how far he was from it. His strength was exhausted and despite all of his efforts, he had failed to protect Rin. So for once, Sesshoumaru gave in. He surrendered to the pain and to the despair and he waited for death to find him, his only comfort that he and Rin would still be together.

But then, as he was lying there, a slight eastern breeze sprang up, soothing his aching muscles and the agonizing sting of wounds. But even more importantly, it carried with it the scent of the woman who had haunted his dreams for the past two years. The scent of her mingled with the scent of a strange male.

His demon rose up in fury. No one was allowed to touch what was his, especially not her. Pure, unadulterated rage rushed through his veins, forcing aside the pain and the despair. Making himself rise to his feet, he forced herself onward, following the winds of fate towards what was rightfully his.

* * *

Kagura had to admit, Kagome didn't have bad tastes when it came to guys, though the fact that she was with Inu Yasha caused Kagura to reconsider that thought. But she had been right about Akito. The guy was _hot_! He had shaggy black hair that kept blowing into his ice blue eyes, and while it seemed to irritate him, she found it irresistibly cute. He was a bit taller than her, her chin was barely higher than his shoulders, but as long as she didn't get a crick in her neck while kissing him, she blushed lightly at the thought, that was perfect as far as she was concerned. It certainly would make it a lot easier to rest her head on his shoulder.

She had to say though, the guy had to be color-blind. He was wearing a garishly bright green haori that clashed horribly with… well, with everything. At least his hakama was white. If it had been purple or some other horrid color like that she would have had to put him out of his misery.

But Kagome had been right about his personality as well. The guy was a perfect gentleman, which could get possibly annoying in the future. But for now, after having to deal with Inu Yasha for the past two years, even if she wasn't the one that was – "romantically involved" – with him, Akito's politeness was really quite refreshing. He was also rather charming and had a wry sense of humor that she loved. Plus when she had tripped earlier and he had caught her, she had gotten a feel for the body beneath the horrible clothes and – by the gods! – was he… well-muscled. And that was putting it mildly.

So she supposed that perhaps for once, and just once mind you, she had to admit that maybe Kagome had been right. She was really enjoying herself with him. In fact, more than she had enjoyed herself in a long time. Maybe she really did need to settle down with a guy. Not that she really wanted to settle down in the true sense of the word. Heaven forbid that ever happened to her. She was far too much of a free spirit to ever want to – how did Kagome put it – putter around the house all day. No, if she was going to commit herself to any guy, he was going to have to live with the fact that she would never be able to sit still for too long. In fact, nowadays it was rare for her to stay in the village for more than two weeks at a time. She always returned though. After all, it was her home.

But apparently Akito was quite the traveler, she perhaps she could be happy with him. Who knows? 'I guess only time will tell,' thought Kagura wryly to herself.

She brought her attention back to her current surroundings. They were currently taking a little walk through "Inu Yasha's Forest". Kagura snorted inwardly, the stupid hanyou hadn't set a foot in here since he had made Kagome his. He was far too busy following her around trying to get some, it seemed like the git was constantly horny. But regardless, she was glad Akito had thought to take a walk with her here. She loved to walk through this forest. There was just something about the peaceful atmosphere here that never failed to clear her mind. She wondered idly if it had been this peaceful when Inu Yasha had been pinned up against that tree.

The past didn't matter though. All that mattered was that this forest always seemed to take her mind of whatever was troubling her, and she definitely needed that right now. The peace of mind she felt her was more than welcome. She had been worrying ever since that foreboding wind this morning. She shuddered, there had been a disquietingly familiar aura on that wind. It was too faint for her to pin it down, but nonetheless, it had been there and ever since it had been nagging her from somewhere in the back of her mind. Forcing that thought aside, she turned her attention back to Akito, who had been telling her something about one of the many places he had visited, blissfully unaware of the fact that she hadn't been paying attention to him.

Caught by a sudden impulse, she smiled disarmingly at him before grabbing his hand and dragging him away behind her, cutting off his story. "Come on, I want to show you something."

He looked at her, a slightly confused look on his face, before smiling again. "Sure, why not? Besides, I don't think that you're going to leave me much choice in the matter." He said, glancing pointedly down at their clasped hands as he followed behind her.

"Nope!" she said brightly. They jogged along in a companionable silence for a couple of minutes, both simply enjoying the presence of the other. She glanced back at him, pleased at the look of wonder on her face as she expertly navigated the forest. 'Teach him to underestimate me,' she thought with a grin.

Suddenly the couple emerged into a small glade in the forest, and she savored his small gasp as the beauty of the place washed over him. No matter how many times she came here, it never failed to impress her how beautiful the place was. A small pond in the middle sparkled in the sunlight, its crystal clear waters reflecting the beautiful sky above. Surrounding the pond was a beautiful arranged flower bed. Kagura had planted those flowers from seeds gathered from her flower bed back at Kagome's house. And while she cared about her garden at home, this one held a much closer place to her heart.

This was her sanctuary, whenever she was feeling particularly down or depressed about something she always came here and it never failed to make her feel better about whatever it was that was bothering her. She had never told anybody about this place, and she wasn't quite sure why she had brought Akito here either. But that didn't matter, and besides, the look of wonderment on his face was more than worth it.

"Well," she started, "do you like it?"

"Like it?! Kagura, this is beautiful!" Akito gasped. "Did you plant those?" he asked, pointing at her flowers.

"Yep." She said brightly. "I just love growing flowers. The feeling of tending to something so ordinary and then watching it bloom into something beautiful… its… well, I don't quite know how to put it, but I love it."

"Kagura, this place is gorgeous," he said softly, "But it's not near as beautiful as you," he whispered to her, pulling her close. She couldn't help but gasp softly at the sudden contact, and stared helplessly at him as he lightly brushed away a stray hair that had fallen into her face. She could feel her heart speed up as he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her even closer. His spare hand came up underneath her chin and tilted her face up towards his, and she watched breathlessly as he slowly brought his lips down towards his.

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion to Kagura. Despite the fact that she had the body and mind of a grown woman, she was still only a few years old. And it had only been in these past two years that she had been able to get intimate with someone, there would have been no way that Naraku would have allowed it while he was still alive. And Akito was the first person she had really allowed herself to get close to since she had gained her freedom. And now he was about to take her first kiss.

Then, just before his lips claimed hers, something ripped him away from her and tossed him effortlessly to the side. She suddenly felt all her strength leave her and she collapsed to her knees as she stared into the furious face of Sesshoumaru.

"Oh gods," she whispered horrified. He looked like something right of one of her worst nightmares. He was covered from head to two in blood, and she highly doubted that it was his. His clothes were shredded to rags, she was surprised that they had even managed to stay on him in that condition. But most frightening was the look on his face.

It was immediately obvious to her that his inner demon had taken control. His eyes were completely red, and beneath the streaks of dirt on his face she could see that his markings had become jagged. And he was furious; she had never seen him this angry before, not even when Naraku had threatened Rin. She couldn't move as he stared at her, and then he turned his eyes on Akito, who had gotten up from where he had been tossed, a pissed off look on his face.

The two youkai glared at each other, and Kagura could feel their youki pushing at each other, but it was immediately clear who was the stronger. Sesshoumaru's youki was a rolling mass of strength and fury and a terrifying thirst for blood and compared to it Akito couldn't even compare. Even though it wasn't even focused on her, she found herself crushed beneath the weight of it. And then he took a step towards Akito and suddenly Kagura realized what he meant to do.

Forcing her self to her legs, she shouted, "Sesshoumaru, no!" as she grabbed his one arm. After she realized what she had done, she realized that that was probably the biggest mistake she had ever made in her entire life.

Sesshoumaru spun around to look at her. In a flash she felt his arm encircle her waist and she was pulled flush against his rock hard body. She put her hands up instinctively to cushion the impact and found them crushed between them. She could feel his muscles trembling beneath her touch and hearing his ragged breathing she suddenly realized that he was completely exhausted. Her first impression had been completely wrong, it seemed that quite a bit of the blood on him was his, though she was sure that whoever he had been fighting with had certainly gotten the worst end of the deal. But still, she was amazed the man could even stand.

She looked up at him and as her eyes met his she was amazed by the sheer possessiveness in his glare. Then she heard him snarl one word, "**_MINE!"_** just before his mouth came crashing down on hers.

Somehow, she had never imagined that her first kiss would be with a not-quite-fully-conscious demon, who was completely covered in blood and could barely stand. However, she found that she couldn't complain. His lips met hers with a fury, releasing all of the want and desire that had been building up in him for the past two years. And she found herself kissing him back just as passionately. Everything else just seemed to disappear to her, her entire world consisted of just Sesshoumaru and the feel of his lips on hers.

Suddenly she felt him nip gently at her lower lip and as she gasped at the touch of his fangs, he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss his tongue darting into her mouth to explore it, memorize it. The new feelings he was evoking in her were too much and her legs gave way, causing her to fall against him completely. She felt his arm tighten around her even more, completely eliminating the distance between their bodies. Dear gods! She never knew that a mere kiss could make her feel this way. She _needed_ him! Needed his arm around her and his lips on hers. She felt something begin to awaken inside of her, something that she knew only Sesshoumaru could satisfy. Somewhere, deep inside her subconscious, she realized that this must be why it was impossible to drag Inu Yasha and Kagome away from each other once they got started. She didn't want this to end either.

Then, after what seemed like both years and seconds simultaneously, they both broke away for much needed air. Then she heard him softly growl, "Mine," once more, then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed.

* * *

_A/N: So how did you guys like it? I meant to have it up last friday, but I had a poli-sci paper to finish and criminal justice and statistics tests to prepare for. For some odd reason, college professors don't seem to care that I have fanfiction to write. But what can you do?_

_Anyways, thanks for reading and if you have any comments, suggestions, praise, and/or **constructive** criticisms, please either email or me or put them into a review. It always feels good to know that ones work is appreciated. _

_Anyways..._

* * *

C ya'll next time,

Cute and Fluffy


	5. Shock

Crimson and Gold  
By Cute and Fluffy

* * *

Kagura finally wins back her heart, and her freedom, from Naraku and when he is finally destroyed she is at a loss for what to do. But what happens when her heart is suddenly stolen by another? And what happens when that theif happens to be a certain silver-haired, gold-eyed youkai who doesn't know what to do with his own? (Sesshoumaru x Kagura)

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own 'em. The plot and any original characters (cough Akito cough) I may create are mine alone though. So don't take em!

* * *

Crimson and Gold  
Chapter 4: Shock

* * *

'Well, isn't this just great!' thought Kagura sarcastically to herself. 'This is exactly where I saw myself this morning. Trapped beneath a stupid, smelly, overgrown, excuse for a youkai!' And to punctuate the thought she hit Sesshoumaru on the arm. Hard.

'What the _hell_ possessed him to go and kiss me like that! Not that I mind… Scratch that! Of course I mind. That was my first kiss! And he had to go and fall right on top of me…' "you asshole!" she finished out loud.

She started to try to get her arms underneath him, so she could push him off of her, but he was just too heavy. 'Gods, Sesshoumaru! What the hell have you been eating?! Gods, haven't you heard of this thing called exercise?'

Suddenly, she felt him being rolled off her and with a gasp she took in her first lungful of air since the idiot had passed out on her. 'Damn, that armor hurt!' she thought to herself, quite aggravated, rubbing her poor, bruised collar bone.

She looked up at Akito, who was offering her his hand to help her up. Accepting it gratefully, she let him pull her to her feet. "Thanks, Akito. You have no idea how heavy that asshole is!"

"Well, you won't have to worry about him again!" snarled Akito as he drew a knife from somewhere in the folds of his haori. He glared hatefully at Sesshoumaru and had started walking over to finish off the unconscious youkai when Kagura stepped in his way.

"No, Akito. Believe it or not he's a friend. I wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for him."

"You mean, you're actually going to protect that bastard?!" exclaimed Akito.

"Yes, believe it or not, I'm actually going to protect the bastard," responded Kagura drolly.

Akito looked at her skeptically for a minute. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head during that fall or something?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Kagura knelt down beside Sesshoumaru and started examining him. She felt her anger turn to icy fear as she realized with a gasp exactly how badly he was injured. "Gods, what the hell were you doing?!" Spinning around to face Akito, she was about to ask for his help with Sesshoumaru when she heard coughing coming from her flowers. Glancing over, she gasped when she saw Rin lying there, obviously not much better off than Sesshoumaru.

She and Akito rushed over to the little girl and Kagura gave her a once over to see how badly she was hurt. The poor thing was dirty from head to toe, but that didn't cover up the extent of the bruising she had suffered. Kagura would be greatly surprised if the young girl hadn't broken any bones on top of everything else. There were numerous cuts all over her, and she was obviously very sick.

She felt herself begin to panic, her fear for them taking over. Dimly realizing that panicking wouldn't get them any help she forced herself to push away the fear. For the moment at least. "You have to get her to Kagome!" she ordered Akito, her fear betrayed only by a slight tremble in her voice. As he nodded she told him, "Kagome should be studying with Kaede right now. You can ask anybody if you need directions." He stood there listening to her, but when he didn't start moving right away she started shouting, "What are you waiting for?! Go!"

With a nod, he scooped the young girl up gently and took off. Kagura was surprised at how fast he moved, but was infinitely grateful for it. "And tell Kaede to hurry to my house!" She thought she heard an answering yell from him, but she was too busy worrying about Sesshoumaru to try to figure out what he said.

She rushed over to his side, pulling her feather out of her hair as she went. Enlarging it, she knelt down beside the inu youkai and slipped his arm over her shoulder so she could drag him onto the feather. "Dammit, Sesshoumaru!" she started yelling at him. She started moving him slowly onto the feather. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

As she got him all the way on, she couldn't stop the tears that started blurring her vision. Desperate to get him back to her house so he could get some help, she took off. "You stupid fool! You're lucky to be alive!" she shouted, her fear for him turning back into anger.

She rushed back to the village, flying faster than she ever had before. Wiping away her tears, she straightened her shoulders and pushed her feather even faster. "Don't you die on me, Sesshoumaru! Don't you dare!" She knelt down beside him and ran her fingers through his hair. The last time she had seen him his hair had been perfect. Beautiful and silky and shining like molten silver in the light of the moon. Now it was dirty and knotted, matted with blood and mud and sticks.

She could see the village now. Growing more confident by the sight she strained to go even faster, until she was right above her house. Landing quickly, she pulled Sesshoumaru off her feather, and just abandoning it there, quickly pulled him into the house and to her room.

Fortunately, she had been too lazy to put away her futon that morning so she wouldn't have to waste time pulling that out. Carefully she lowered him onto the futon, before quickly wracking her mind, trying to figure out what to do. Figuring that before she could do anything she had to know exactly how badly he was hurt, she started pulling off his armor.

Lifting his torso carefully off the ground, she quickly undid the straps that bound his cuirass to him. Heedlessly tossing it to the side, she started stripping him of the rags that used to be his kimono. She gasped as she finished pulling them off, leaving him in just his hakama.

She stood there staring at him, completely at a loss for what to do. She had known he was badly hurt, but when she said earlier that he was lucky to be alive she hadn't realized the half of it. Fortunately she was saved as Kaede came rushing into the room, a basket clutched tightly in her hand. The elder woman gasped as she saw the condition her patient was in, but immediately recovered her composure. "Quickly girl, fetch me some hot water and some rags," she ordered Kagura.

She nodded dumbly at Kaede's order, but couldn't take her eyes off of Sesshoumaru's unconscious form. Kaede, realizing that the wind youkai was in shock, turned to her and gave her a firm slap across the face. Kagura looked angrily at Kaede, until the old woman reminded her, "Hot water and rags, girl! And hurry!"

Kagura nodded once before rushing off to draw water out of the well behind the house. Filling the bucket up, she rushed back into the house. Grabbing a large bowl out of one of the cabinets and some clean towels that Kagome had set off to the side, she rushed back into the room. Breathing heavily, she set everything down on the floor, before turning to Kaede, who was kneeling next to Sesshoumaru, and explaining, "We don't have any hot water!"

Kaede looked up at her then down at the bucket of water and muttered, "No matter, girl." The old lady reached over and pulled the bucket and bowl over to her. Carefully she poured some water in the large clay bowl and then muttered a quick spell. Kagura was surprised to see steam beginning to rise from both the bucket and the bowl. Kaede picked up the bucket of hot water and set it down on the other side of Sesshoumaru. Motioning Kagura to sit over there, she handed Kagura a rag and ordered, "Quickly girl, we must cleanse his wounds if he is to survive."

Kagura soaked her rag in the steaming hot water, before beginning to gently scrub his side. As she ran the rag over the bruising over his ribs, she wasn't surprised at all to feel at least three broken ribs. Looking desperately over at Kaede she stammered, "He's got some broken ribs!"

"Well, what did ye expect, girl?! Look at those bruises, of course he has broken ribs!" Kaede said exasperatedly. "Ye better get back to cleaning the wounds!"

Another time, Kagura might have enjoyed bathing Sesshoumaru, however, at the moment she was too afraid to notice exactly how sexy the inu youkai was. Together the two woman finished cleaning off his chest, face, and arm. Exposing exactly how badly he was injured. He had suffered numerous cuts across his shoulders and sides, however none of those were particularly life-threatening. In addition to the bruising on his side and the broken ribs, there were a number of sickeningly large bruises along his back and arms, and it appeared he had broken the collar bone on his right side, as well. Kagura was sure that he had other injuries underneath his hakama, but she highly doubted that any of them were life-threatening either. Kagura didn't think that any of his injuries were really all that serious, but all of them together, combined with the amount of blood he had lost and all the way he had exhausted all his energy made for a lethal combination.

She looked over at Kaede, eyes pleading for her to tell her that he was going to live. Kaede looked sadly over at her, before saying gently, "I can make ye no promises I'm afraid. But he is strong. If he wants to live, he should survive."

Having consoled Kagura as much as she was able, she reached into the basket beside her to pull out a needle and some thread. "I'm going to have to stitch up his wounds, Kagura. Ye might should leave."

Kagura shook her head numbly and instead moved to sit next to his head, and as Kaede began the messy processing of stitching up the worst of his cuts, Kagura lifted up the tangle that Sesshoumaru's hair had become, and placing it in the bucket of hot water, began to scrub at it.

* * *

Kaede looked up briefly as the wind youkai began to wash Sesshoumaru's hair. It was quite obvious to the elder woman that poor Kagura was in a state of shock. Kaede really wasn't all that surprised. After all, this was the same man who had snatched Kagura back from the jaws of death, had protected her from Kouga, and had been the sole object of her affections for the past two years, even if he had left her without so much as a good bye. And now, after two years of absence, the same youkai that once had seemed invincible had stumbled back into her life half-dead. That would be enough to shock anyone.

Kaede wondered why Sesshoumaru had come here. No, it was obvious why he had come here. The youkai had been bringing Rin here for help. And the young girl had needed it. At the thought of Rin, Kaede wondered how Kagome was doing with her. When that youkai, Akito had stumbled into Kaede's hut, holding the poor dear Kagome had immediately taken action. Glad to see her pupil taking command for once, she had left the young miko as she had ordered Inu Yasha to help her, and began grilling Akito on what had happened.

When she had learned about Sesshoumaru, she immediately gathered together her things and rushed over to Kagome and Inu Yasha's house. Yes, Rin was hurt and most definitely sick, but she wasn't in danger of dying, and from what Akito had told her, Sesshoumaru was and he would need all of her years of experience to keep him alive.

And Akito hadn't been far from the truth. Kaede had no idea what had happened to the two of them, but it was clear that Sesshoumaru had definitely gotten the worst of it. There wasn't exactly much she could do for a youkai, however she was determined to help him in any way she possibly could, if only for Kagura.

Truth be told, she had gotten rather attached to the wind youkai. In fact, the entire village had gotten attached to her. Kaede knew that Kagura didn't think so, but it was most definitely the truth. The fiery wind youkai had somehow found her way into all of their hearts.

Kaede had a great number of fond memories of the young woman, most of them involving fights between her and Inu Yasha. Kagura knew exactly what buttons to press to get Inu Yasha riled up, and when Kagome came out to investigate the commotion, Kagura always managed to get the young miko on her side. Kaede knew that Kagome realized that Kagura was the instigator just as much as Inu Yasha was, but Kagome would start teasing Inu Yasha with Kagura, and then the poor hanyou would inevitably say something each time to land him with a face full of dirt and an irritated wife.

Yes, the entire village liked Kagura, whether she realized it or not. And all of them would be greatly saddened to see the young woman hurt. Which was exactly why she was trying her damnedest to help save Sesshoumaru. Kaede didn't really care for the inu-youkai. In her opinion, he was even worse than Inu Yasha. Both brothers were arrogant to be sure, Kaede figured it had to run in the blood, but even though Sesshoumaru was a lot more reserved and quiet than the brash hanyou, his stubborn refusal to admit that he could ever be wrong simply pissed Kaede off. Besides, she wouldn't wish this sort of pain on anyone. She was not going to envy him when he woke up… if he ever woke up.

Kaede finished stitching up the third of the worst of his many cuts and glanced over to see how Kagura was doing. She was still scrubbing mechanically at his hair, oblivious to the fact that the water was completely filthy and by this point she was doing more harm than good. Setting down her needle, she placed a hand on Kagura's arm and suggested softly, "Why don't ye go change the water, child. It has become quite filthy."

Kagura nodded at her, then left the room carrying the bucket. The poor thing looked like a zombie. Kaede shook her head and sighed, how she had to be hurting. Pushing those thoughts aside, she focused back on the task at hand. She had just finished stitching up the last of the cuts that required stitches when Kagura returned. She set down the bucket and went back to washing his hair, without ever saying a word.

Glancing sorrowfully at Kagura, Kaede reached back into her basket and pulled out a large roll of bandages and began to wrap up all of Sesshoumaru's cuts. That taken care of, she turned her attention to his broken bones. Unfortunately for him, neither of those were bones that she could set. It was too bad that Kagome couldn't take Sesshoumaru to her time. Kaede was sure that they had some way to fix those there.

The only thing Kaede could do for those, was to bandage both his shoulder and his torso tightly, to try and keep him from moving them. They would have to heal on their own, and that was going to take time. Kaede figured when Sesshoumaru found out that more likely than not he was going to end up bed-ridden here for the next couple of weeks at the least, he was going to be rather irritated. But there was no help for it. Neither she nor Kagome could use magic to help him, not unless he wanted to be purified instead.

Searching her mind for any other ways that she could help him, she remembered a healing salve that had seemed to work well on Inu Yasha the last time the hanyou had broken something. There was also a variety of potions that would help him regain his energy, and he was going to need plenty of injury in order to heal all these injuries. He was lucky, any human, and most other youkai as well, would have already died from the injuries he had suffered. But then Sesshoumaru was never one to do anything half-assed. It only made sense that if he was going to get himself hurt, he was really going to get himself **_hurt_**.

Kaede heard a noise behind her and turned to see Kagome and Inu Yasha standing in the doorway, Inu Yasha carrying Rin gently in his arms. Gratefully they were here; Kaede immediately began to take advantage of their presence. She ordered Inu Yasha to take Rin to one of the rooms and let her rest, while she sent Kagome back to her hut to retrieve the salve and the ingredients that Kaede needed to make a potion to help Sesshoumaru regain his lost blood and energy.

As soon as Inu Yasha had laid Rin down, on his own futon incidentally, he came back. Kaede knew that there was plenty of bad blood between the two brothers, but they each cared about the other in their own twisted way. Of course, she knew that were anyone to ask Inu Yasha why he had helped his brother later on he'd probably respond with a gruff, "I'm the only one allowed to kill him," but that was beside the point. With one hand, Kaede motioned him into the room.

"Inu Yasha," she began, "I want ye to prepare a hot bath for Kagura. The poor child needs one." Inu Yasha began to protest, but shut his mouth when Kaede started glaring at him.

He started muttering angrily to himself, ears flattened against his head. But he left to go do what she asked, so Kaede didn't press the issue. She turned back to Kagura. The poor girl was still washing his hair. Kaede got up and knelt down beside her. Gently pulling the rag away from her hands, taking Kagura's hands into her own. Kagura didn't seem to notice. She got up and pulled Kagura to her feet. As she turned around, she saw Kagome standing at the door, holding another basket with everything that Kaede had requested.

Walking Kagura over to the door, she traded the wind youkai for the basket. "Kagome," Kaede said softly, "I have Inu Yasha drawing up a hot bath for Kagura. Could ye take her there and stay with her."

"Sure, Kaede." Kagome said softly, before wrapping one arm around Kagura's shoulders. "Come on, Kags. We're gonna go give you a nice, relaxing bath. How does that sound?" Kagome gently led the distraught Kagura off.

Shortly after the two woman had left, Inu Yasha came back and Kaede directed him to come help her. As they entered Kagura's room, Kaede turned sharply to Inu Yasha. "Now, Inu Yasha, I want no complaints out of ye! Do ye understand?"

"Fine, what do you want, wench?"

"I want ye to take off his pants."

* * *

Kagome gently lead Kagura off to the small bathhouse that they had built as part of their house. It might not have been a Sengoku Jedai practice, but when they had first started building the house Kagome had told Inu Yasha in no uncertain terms that if she didn't get her bathhouse he would be sat so many times he would be a part of the ground. And that if he didn't use it, he would be sat once for every speck of dirt on his body every time Kagome saw him. There was no way she was going to allow her mate, and husband, to go around smelling like hot trash.

But now more than ever, Kagome was glad she had insisted that they get one. She agreed with Kaede completely, a hot bath was exactly what Kagura needed. She stopped and opened the door for Kagura, gently pushing the wind youkai into the room. Shutting it behind her, there were men in the house after all, she turned back to Kagura. "Ok Kags, I need you to get undressed. Can you do that?"

Kagura didn't even acknowledge that she had heard Kagome, but she started removing her clothes anyway. Kagome began to take hers off as well. Kagome knew that except for that one time, right after Naraku's death, Kagura had never allowed anybody to see her naked, not even her, Kagura's own sister or close enough to one at least, but the bath was big enough to hold three or four people, and Kagura was going to need someone to bathe her. Kagome shook her head, "Damn Sesshoumaru!" she shouted and punched the wall, another stupid habit that she had somehow picked up from Inu Yasha. It had to be their mating bond, she had always had decent control over her temper, unlike some irritating hanyous, and there was no way that she would have picked up such a stupid habit otherwise.

Now nursing a hurt hand and angry at hot-tempered hanyous and their asshole half-brothers, she slipped into the tub, pulling Kagura along with her. She had to admit, even though he had complained about it, he certainly hadn't done his job halfway. The bath was the perfect temperature and he had even put in some of those bath oils that Kagome had wheedling away from a trader last month. She supposed that she probably couldn't blame him for her hand either; after all, whether or not it was his fault for mating her, she was the one who had punched the wall. And besides, a few hurt hands was a price she was more than willing to pay to have Inu Yasha. That didn't mean that she still wasn't pissed off at her brother-in-law. Oh no, when Sesshoumaru came to, if he ever came to, she was going to lay into his hide.

'Why the hell did he have to come back? Kagura was making such progress! I thought she was finally getting over him! Now look at her!' "Dammit!" Kagome swore aloud again, accidentally letting her thoughts take control of her. 'Why are you so attached to this guy, Kagura?' Kagome thought sadly, 'What has he ever done for you to deserve it? The only thing that can come out of a relationship with him is a broken heart! Why can't you see that?!'

Suddenly she heard a shout of "WHAT!" coming from Inu Yasha and then some banging around. Resisting the urge to go give him a piece of her mind, and knowing full well that Kaede could handle Inu Yasha, she grabbed one of the washrags lying beside the bath and, scooting over to sit behind Kagura, began to wash her back for her.

"Oh, Kags…" Kagome sighed, she felt so sorry for the poor youkai. Then, as she pushed aside Kagura's long hair to wash behind it, she realized with a gasp, exactly why not even she had ever seen Kagura naked. There, on her back, even after all these years, was a large scar in the shape of a spider. The scar Naraku placed on her to mark her as his.

Suddenly, Kagome realized Kagura was turning around to face her. Relieved that she was feeling better, but afraid that she'd be angry with her, Kagome began to stammer out, "Kagura, I'm so sorry! I didn't know and…"

Kagura shushed her with a sad smile on her face. "It's all right, Kagome. I've already accepted the fact that it's never going to go away," she said somewhat bitterly. "I just don't like other people seeing it. Because…" She trailed off there and Kagome watched Kagura bite her lower lip to stop it from trembling.

Scooting closer to the wind youkai, Kagome whispered gently, "It's ok Kagura. It's just me. Come on, let it all out." And as Kagura began to sob, Kagome could do nothing but hold the wind youkai, and tell her that everything was going to be all right.

* * *

That night, Kagura sat beside Sesshoumaru, lounging on an extra futon that Inu Yasha had brought her. At Kagome's orders no doubt. Nonetheless, she was grateful for it. It certainly was more comfortable than having to sit on the floor all night.

She was grateful for Kaede and Kagome's help, and even Inu Yasha's. But Kaede had been right, she had needed that bath. It was just that when she had seen how badly he had been hurt, she had been so worried for him. She had started panicking and then she just kinda went into shock.

Kagura looked over at Sesshoumaru. Kaede had finished treating him while Kagura had been in the bath. It was unfortunate that she hadn't been there too. With a small grin, Kagura remembered the story Kagome had told her when she had brought Kagura her dinner. Apparently Kaede had made Inu Yasha take off Sesshoumaru's pants and bandage any cuts around the… more intimate areas. She blushed at the thought of – that – but at the moment, Kagura was just glad that she had something to smile about, even if it was as little as Inu Yasha being embarrassed. Well, perhaps embarrassed wasn't exactly the right word for it. Kagura was sure that Inu Yasha would die if he found out that they knew about that. She wondered briefly exactly what Kaede did to make Inu Yasha listen to her. Apparently the old miko was a greater force to be reckoned with than Kagura had thought.

Kagura was a little surprised that Kaede had been so considerate of the taiyoukai though. She highly doubted that he had ever done anything for Kaede or the village to make them want to help him. But Kaede had treated him just like any other patient, perhaps even better than most. All of his wounds had been washed and covered in Kaede's healing salve, before being bound up tightly. And though she was glad to see that he had been treated so well, it still pained her to look at him. There were almost more bandages than there was skin.

They had given him one of Inu Yasha's pants to wear, which Inu Yasha probably had to put on him as well. But they hadn't given him another haori to wear, so the only thing covering his chest was the bandages around it. She watched his chest rise and fall beneath them, even through the bandages she could see his muscles rippling slowly. She was sure that once he was better, that would be haunting her in her dreams, but at the moment she was too concerned about him to pay to much attention to that.

His breathing was much better than before. It was still rather labored, but with several broken ribs she figured that was to be expected and at least it wasn't near as ragged as it had been when she had found him. Speaking of which, why had he come in the first place. And why had he kissed her?

She remembered his words, well, word rather, right before his lips had come down on hers. "Mine!" he had growled. Did that mean… no, it couldn't. He must have mistaken her for someone else. Fatigue and all. That had to be it… but what if it wasn't? Did that mean he might want her? Kagura shook her head. Now was not the time to be thinking about that.

But why had he come? It had to have been for Rin. But that didn't make any sense. Sure, when Kagura had found the girl she had looked pretty bad, but Kagome had told her that after she had cleaned her up a bit and changed her clothes, she was almost fine. She had a bit of nasty bruising in a couple of areas, a few minor cuts, a broken arm, and she had caught a pretty bad cold as well, but it wasn't anything life threatening. Just a fever and a cough and she wouldn't be able to sit or lie down comfortably for the next couple of days. Nothing to almost get yourself killed about.

She looked him over again. 'He never seemed like the type to do things half-way. I guess that goes for getting yourself nearly beaten half to death as well.' She thought wryly. Kaede had told her before she had left that she didn't think that he was in any danger of dying. He had been kind of like Rin, he had looked a lot worse than he actually was. All of his cuts and bruises wer nothing to really worry about, though they'd be paining him a great deal, but he had used up almost all of his energy and he had lost a good deal of blood as well. So, well perhaps he hadn't looked a lot worse than he really was, but since they had gotten him treated his life was in no danger. Nonetheless, he was still going to be bed-ridden for at least a week or two, a good deal of which he would probably spend sleeping to regain the energy and the blood that he lost, and afterwards he'd be stuck here for probably another week while he allowed his bones to finish healing and he regained his strength. That was certainly not going to make him happy. Kaede had supposed that they might have to get Inu Yasha to make sure that the tai-youkai stayed. Kagura was sure that even though Inu Yasha probably wanted him gone more than anything, he would take great pleasure in bossing around his older half-brother.

Suddenly she thought she heard a slight whimper coming from him. She looked at him again, his breath was speeding up and becoming more ragged and he was beginning to sweat. Kaede had warned her that he might catch something in his weakened state, and apparently she had been right. Luckily she had left a couple vials of potions just in case and had told Kagura what to do if he did catch something. Uncapping one of the vials, she opened his mouth for him and poured it in. Then, she gently massaged his throat to get him to swallow. After he had drunk the potion, she left real quick to fetch a bowl of cold water and some rags.

When she got back he was no longer whimpering, not that he would ever admit to whimpering of course, but was letting out agonized moans instead. Apparently, the potion was going to take a few minutes to kick in. Soaking two of the rags in the cold water, she placed one on his forehead and with the other she began to gently sponge his skin, attempting to cool him down. Suddenly she stopped as she felt a hand gently caress her face. She turned to look at him and crimson eyes met gold. He drew his hand softly across her cheek, the feel of his thumb sliding along her jaw causing her to shudder. "Kagura," she heard him whisper huskily, and then he slipped back into unconsciousness.

She idly drew one hand up to her cheek and wondered what the hell just happened. Perhaps she did have a chance with him after all. She shuddered again, remembering the feel of his hand on her face. Well, whether she had a chance or not, she highly doubted that even her concern for him would be keeping _those_ dreams away tonight.

* * *

_A/N: Well, here it is. Not exactly sure I like it, but then again, I'm rarely ever satisfied with my work. But if I keep going over it and changing it, it's going to end up even worse than it already is, so I'm just gonna stop while I'm still ahead. Tell me what ya'll think or any problems you saw with it and I'll go back and change it._

_In addition, I made some changes to the last chapter. Like the kiss at the end, there was one line where I had something like, "She found him kissing him…" Yeah… no. So I went back and changed a few errors I had seen and I added a bit more here and there. Just fyi._

_Anyways, thanks for reading and like always, if you have any comments, questions, concerns, and/or constructive criticism please either send me an email or write it up in a review and I'll be more than happy to address them. Thanks for reading and I hope ya'll enjoyed it._

* * *

C ya'll laters,  
Cute and Fluffy 


	6. Awakening

Crimson and Gold

By Cute and Fluffy

* * *

Kagura finally wins back her heart, and her freedom, from Naraku and when he is finally destroyed she is at a loss for what to do. But what happens when her heart is suddenly stolen by another? And what happens when that theif happens to be a certain silver-haired, gold-eyed youkai who doesn't know what to do with his own? (Sesshoumaru x Kagura)

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own 'em. The plot and any original characters I may create are mine alone though. So don't take em!

* * *

Crimson and Gold

Chapter 6: Awakening

* * *

Sesshoumaru lay on his futon, eyes clinched tightly shut, willing the pounding in his head to go away. It felt like there was an army of Jakens inside his head, each of them pounding on his brain with the Staff of Two Heads. He had never had a hangover quite like this before, 'Gods! What did I drink?'

He tried to think back to the night before so he could remember what in the hells had caused him to get that drunk, but the nights "festivities" were all a blank. All he could remember was the strange dreams he must have had after he passed out.

He had been dreaming about Kagura, not exactly surprising in and of itself. Every since that damn Naraku kicked the bucket if he dreamed it was almost always about Kagura. If he dreamed, normally a big if, but as of late an almost everyday occurrence. But what was strange about these dreams was the fact that they felt real. There weren't any strange landscapes or pink bunnies singing show tunes, not that Sesshoumaru had ever dreamed about pink bunnies singing show tunes, or even that feeling that one gets in a dream. No these dreams had felt like he could have reached out and actually touched Kagura, run his fingers through her hair or feel the smoothness of her skin.

'Those kind of dreams are exactly what I don't need,' groaned Sesshoumaru to himself. 'Why can't I forget the stupid wench? She's just another youkai, she's nobody.' Suddenly his head throbbed particularly hard. 'Gods! I really need to figure out what the hell I was drinking. Then painfully kill the asshole that made the stuff. And even more painfully kill whoever gave it to me.'

Sesshoumaru tried hard to ignore the pounding in his head, waiting for it to subside. He scrambled for something to think about, desperate for something to focus on besides the pain. The only thing that he could come up with, however, was his dreams about Kagura, a topic he wasn't sure was any better than the pain. Suddenly his head throbbed again, it felt like someone was trying to chisel their way into his skull, and Sesshoumaru decided that, as dangerous as it might be, he would much rather focus on Kagura.

Strangely enough, the dreams hadn't been that erotic either. Sensual perhaps, but definitely not erotic, especially when compared with some of his previous dreams. He couldn't quite remember all of them and some of the ones that he could remember were more of a blur, but there were a few that stood out crystal clear in his memory. There was one of Kagura just sitting beside him, talking to him. He couldn't quite make out what she was saying, but gods she had a beautiful voice. There was another where Kagura had been idly tracing the markings on his face with one fingertip. He could still almost feel her fingertips running down his cheek. Kagura fiddling with a lock of his silver hair. There were a dozen other dreams just like these, but there was one that stood out far from the rest.

While the other dreams were just of Kagura and him, this one involved some other youkai. Some other _male_ youkai. Some other male youkai that Kagura had been about to kiss. Sesshoumaru could feel his jealousy and ire rising up inside him just remembering it, jealousy and ire he quickly dismissed as a result of his hangover and shoved into a corner. In no way, shape, and/or form was he jealous over Kagura, especially jealous of a man who didn't even exist. After all, she was nobody.

That was beside the point though. Kagura had been about to kiss some other youkai. And in the dream, Sesshoumaru had lost his control and torn the prick away from her. A prime example of exactly why Sesshoumaru needed to forget about her. He could not allow his emotions to control him and make the same mistake as his father. Once again though, that was beside the point. Then, after the other youkai was what he had considered a healthy distance away from her, he had claimed her lips for his own.

Now if he could still feel Kagura's fingertips tracing the markings on his face, he remembered this dream so vividly it was like she was kissing him now. And gods was it amazing! No woman had ever affected him like this before, and he was hardly a stranger to women. While their kisses had been pleasurable, Sesshoumaru stopped that line of thought right there. He was moving into dangerous territory again. She was just another woman that was all.

Sesshoumaru gave another mental groan. These dreams were far worse than the old ones. At least those could be easily forgotten in the arms of a willing woman, though for some reason he hadn't been able to bring himself to try that. But these new dreams affected him in an entirely different way. They created a painful longing in him, a longing for something that he could not let himself have. He was really going to have to kill whoever had given him all that alcohol.

Sesshoumaru tried again to remember what had gone on the night before. Figuring he had to start somewhere, he decided to try to remember what he had been doing the day before and then work his way up from there. He remembered that it had been another new moon last week and therefore time to once again go out on a patrol of his lands. He had been just finishing up the patrol and he had been exhausted from lack of sleep. Then he had started back to the mountain house, where Jaken and Rin had been waiting for him. He had gotten there and Jaken had been waiting for him outside. Why had Jaken been waiting? And why hadn't Rin been with him? If he remembered correctly, Jaken had wanted to tell him something, something about Rin… suddenly it came to him. "Rin!"

Sesshoumaru's eyes snapped open and he shot up off the futon. He had managed to pull himself into a sitting position before the pain kicked in. It was a deep, searing pain coming from his side and shoulder, a pain that made the throbbing in his head feel like a gentle massage. He couldn't even stop an agonized groan from escaping between his lips.

It was then that he realized that this wasn't his room in his mountain house that he had been lying in. In fact, this didn't look like any of the rooms in any of the houses that he owned. Not only that, but he had been bandaged up. Carefully flexing the muscles in his chest and his legs, he began to take stock of his situation.

It felt like he had suffered a number of cuts and bruises all over his body. But while his chest and legs were definitely sore, the injuries weren't all that debilitating. However his side and shoulder were far from fine. It felt like he had numerous broken ribs in his side, extensive bruising, and most likely even a slew of internal injuries. Even with the fast healing provided by his demon blood, Sesshoumaru realized that it was going to take a while before he was fully functional. Not only was he injured, but he was in a room he had never seen before and he knew neither the owner nor the owner's intentions towards himself.

However, considering the fact that somebody had taken the time to bandage all of his injuries, and quite well at that, he felt that it was safe to assume that his host held no hostile intentions towards himself. If they wanted him dead, he was sure that that would already be the case and if they had wanted to hold him hostage or attempt to get information out of him, they would not have done such a complete job with his bandaging.

So while he was in a poor condition, he did not believe that he was in any danger at the moment. The same did not apply to Rin. He remembered chasing after Rin and her kidnappers, snake youkai if he recalled correctly, and he dimly remember a fight, which would explain his injuries. However what had happened to him and Rin after that remained a blur.

Suddenly he heard someone's footsteps in the hall outside. Reflexes made him twist to face the closed door to the room and by the time that he remembered his injured side, it was too late. The searing pain that lanced along his side caused him to let out another groan, no matter how he tried to stifle it.

Obviously whoever was outside heard his groan because their footsteps stopped immediately. Realizing that whoever it was knew that he was awake and that any chance of surprising them had been eliminated, he settled for glaring at the door. As much as he was at their power, he refused to simply surrender to them.

Suddenly the footsteps started up again, this time at a much faster pace. He had very little time to prepare himself before the door to the room slid open, revealing, much to his surprise, a very worried looking Kagura.

Sesshoumaru couldn't completely prevent the shock from leaking out onto his face, which seemed to amuse Kagura, judging by the mischievous smirk that replaced her worried look. Suddenly that smirk changed back to worry and she rushed over to his side. "Sesshoumaru! What in the hell do you think you're doing? You should still be lying down!"

Erasing the shock at her presence from his face, he returned to glaring at her. "Do not presume to tell me what to do," he told her coldly. "Now I would like an explanation as to what I am doing here."

His unspoken order wiped the worried look off her face real quick. For a moment she looked extremely indignant, however that look was quickly replaced by her characteristic smirk. "I'm not presuming to tell you what to do. I _am_ telling you what to do and I'm going to keep on telling you what to do until you're well enough to stop me." With that, she knelt down beside him, and placing one arm behind is back to support him, she gently pushed him down to the futon.

Sesshoumaru tried to resist, but the pain in his side was too much and as much as he hated to admit it, he didn't have the strength to resist. However instead of cooperating, as soon as she took her hands away, he forced himself to sit back up despite the pain. Satisfied with the exasperated expression on her face, he continued, "You have yet to explain what I am doing here."

She gave him a confused look, "You mean you don't remember."

He shook his head once. "No, I don't."

She looked at him strangely. "So you mean you don't remember?"

He cocked an eyebrow questioningly, "Remember what?"

He watched as a variety of emotions flitted quickly across her face, disappointment, relief, and anxiety prominent among them. Then her face resolved itself of any emotion and she told him in a tone that brooked no discussion, "Nothing, I just couldn't believe that you didn't remember anything."

He could tell that she was lying; he could hear it in the quaver in her voice and smell it in the nervousness coming from her. There was definitely something that he was supposed to remember, but she didn't seem like she was going to tell him anytime soon. Besides, he had more important things on his mind. "That still doesn't answer my question."

"Because you were stupid enough to get hurt."

"Yes, but that only explains the bandages. What am I doing _here_?"

"How should I know? It's not like I know what goes on in that twisted little brain of yours."

"This is your room is it, not?"

Kagura blushed, but bit back sarcastically, "So next time I'll leave you out in the forest. There, happy now?"

He was really beginning to get irritated with her and despite all of his control, couldn't help the distinct tightening of his jaw as he sought to control his temper. "Humor me then, what do you think was going on in the twisted little head of mine?"

She gave him her most innocent smile. "I think that you came to see the most beautiful woman you've ever met. And then fell off a cliff or something."

He couldn't stop the low growl that slipped through his clenched teeth. And to think that just minutes ago he had been harboring affectionate thoughts for this witch! "Has anybody ever told you exactly how irritating you are?"

"No," she replied sweetly.

Sesshoumaru moved on to the next issue plaguing his mind in an effort to keep from losing his temper and trying to throttle the witch. "What of Rin? Where is she?"

For some reason, a genuine grin slowly spread its way across her face at his question. Once again, it was all he could do to keep his incredulity from showing. By the gods, he was never going to understand women. But she answered him and that was all that really mattered. "Rin is fine. She had some minor injuries and she had gotten a cold, but Kagome already has her as good as new."

"A cold?"

"Oh," said Kagura dismissingly, "it's some sort of human disease. They get all pale and sweaty, and their body gets real hot and they start coughing. But it's nothing to worry about. Kagome is a miracle-worker when it comes to healing. Well, healing humans at least." She looked at him almost apologetically. Sesshoumaru felt his ire began to slip away. It was impossible to stay mad at the woman, though it was incredibly easy to get mad to begin with.

Something tingled inside his memory when Kagura told Sesshoumaru about the coughing and the fever, but it wouldn't come to him so he dismissed until later. "Where is she now?"

"Last I saw of her she and Shippou were chasing after Inu Yasha."

"Shippou? Oh, you mean that fox runt." Sesshoumaru grimaced, now that he knew Rin was safe he was finally able to relax, and he wasn't going to deny that Kagura was interesting, if a little aggravating, to talk to. "Now I'm going to have to re-teach her manners all over again. Between the runt and Inu Yasha she's bound to have forgotten everything.

Kagura laughed softly, "Don't worry, Kagome has them well-trained."

"Does she now? And here I thought Inu Yasha was beyond saving."

"I'm with you there. Fortunately for him, Kagome seems to have a knack for doing the impossible. And besides, if he doesn't behave, he doesn't get any."

Sesshoumaru stared blankly at her for a moment. "That was not an image that I needed."

"Don't worry, you won't be suffering much longer. Kagome screams like a banshee and it's almost as deadly." Sesshoumaru looked at her, scandalized. "Oh come off it. Why do you think I spend so much time elsewhere? I'm already traumatized enough as it is. And while we're on the topic, what the hell happened to you?"

Sesshoumaru glanced at her, one eyebrow raised in amusement. "How is that even closely related to sex and screaming?"

Kagura gave him one of her 'How-stupid-can-you-get?' glances. "It's not. It's related to killing people, which banshees do." Sesshoumaru just stared at her blankly, causing her to blush. "What?"

He couldn't quite keep his amusement at her antics out of his voice. "I told you, I don't remember."

"So you really don't remember anything?"

"I don't lie, not even to irritating wind youkai. I remember bits and pieces of a fight against a group of snake youkai that had kidnapped Rin."

"Snake youkai? The great Sesshoumaru was taken down by mere snake youkai?! My how the mighty have fallen."

"I was vastly outnumbered and quite exhausted. And these youkai were well-trained." Sesshoumaru snapped back at her, his pride injured.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that."

Sesshoumaru had had it. He knew that the wind youkai was simply teasing him, but he was tired. He was in pain. And he was getting ticked off, both at her and at himself for not being able to control himself around her and for letting himself get hurt this bad to begin with. "It's your fault to begin with that I wa…" He suddenly realized what he was saying and clamped his jaw shut. Sesshoumaru cursed himself for losing control yet again.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" She demanded, suddenly, and rightfully, angry.

"Nothing. I am simply tired and in pain and that is preventing me from thinking straight. I was simply being irrational," Sesshoumaru told her coldly, all amiability gone. "Please forget I ever said anything. Now I am tired and need to rest if I am to regain my strength." With that clear dismissal he slowly laid back onto the futon, refusing to show any signs of the pain he was feeling, and closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.

He could feel Kagura glaring at him, but she kept silent, and after a few moments she got up and left the room. He waited a few moments until after he heard the door slide shut before opening his eyes and starring at the ceiling. He spent the next hour or two wondering what it was about Kagura that caused him to continuously lose control before slipping away into sleep.

* * *

Kagome stormed out of the room, an extremely irritated expression on her face. "Damn that puffed-up, pompous _jackass_! She ranted to no one in particular. "Kicking me out of my own room!? I should kick him out! That'd show the bastard."

She slammed the front door open and nearly ran into a very surprised Kagome, holding a basket full of food, obviously given to her by the villagers. "Kagura! Do you often go about running over people and attempting to break their doors?"

Kagura gave her a sheepish half-smile. "Sorry Kagome, it's just _damn_ that man irritates me!"

Kagome walked into the kitchen, Kagura right behind her. "Who irritates you?" asked Kagome confused. "Inu Yasha hasn't been misbehaving himself has he?" Suddenly it clicked in her mind. "Ah… so Lord Fluffy's finally woken up?"

Kagura made an irritated noise in her throat. "Woke up long enough to royally piss me off. Then he practically ordered me out of my own room!"

Kagome laughed. "You're the one that saved him."

Kagura groaned. "Don't remind me."

"Did he say anything about what happened to him?"

"Not really. He told me he can't remember much, but he remembers bits and pieces of a fight with some snake youkai. Apparently they had kidnapped Rin."

Kagome nodded thoughtfully. "That could explain some things. Normally he's not that careless though. I wonder how they managed to kidnap Rin from him." Kagome trailed off thoughtfully, nodding slowly to herself. Suddenly her head snapped to give a Kagura a mischievous grin. "You said he doesn't remember much? Then does that mean he doesn't remember…" Kagome wrapped her arms around herself, pantomiming kissing someone.

Kagura stared at Kagome with a shocked look on her face. "How did you find out about that?"

Kagome smirked evilly. "I have my ways."

The wind youkai glared at her warningly. "Kagome…"

"Fine, fine. You just have to take the fun out of everything. Someone had to comfort poor Akito while you were pampering Lord Fluffy."

"Gods… why me?" Kagura groaned. "What did he say?"

"He said that you looked like you enjoyed it greatly."

"I find that hard to believe. What did he really say?"

"Fine. He said that you were clinging to Sesshoumaru like a dying whore and moaning just as loudly."

"What?!" Kagura screeched. "He is so dead!" Kagura started towards the front door. "I'm going to rip out his intestines and hang him with them! I'm going to rip his eyes out of their sockets and replace them with his testicles! I'm going to…"

Kagome grabbed the enraged youkai's arm before she could get too far and said with a laugh. "Chill. He didn't actually say that. If you really must know, he said you were kissing him like your life depended on it. The dying whore part was Inu Yasha's paraphrasing when I told him."

Kagura groaned and buried her face in her hands. "So Inu Yasha knows too?"

"Fraid so."

"Why do the gods hate me, Kagome?"

"Oh, come now. It can't be that bad."

Kagura looked at Kagome incredulously. Are you kidding me? Everybody knows that I kissed Sesshoumaru except for Sesshoumaru! And how I am even going to look at Inu Yasha knowing that he knows that I kissed his brother?"

"If you want to get technical, he started it so he kissed you." Kagome interrupted. "And it's half-brother."

"Whatever! You get the point."

"Look, Kagura. The only people who know about it are you, me, Akito, and Inu Yasha. You know I'm not going to tell anybody if you don't want me to and I made Akito swear not to tell anybody else. Besides, I don't think he'd tell anyone else anyway. A matter of pride you know. How would he look if everyone knew that he was so boring that you just had to go and make out with another man while he was still there?" Kagome started laughing but trailed off when Kagura just kept glaring at her. Kagura was far from finding anything about this amusing.

"As for Inu Yasha," Kagome continued, "he knows that if he spills a word of this to anyone, not only will he not get any until he's dead, but I'll sit him so many times he'll come out in America!"

Kagura gave Kagome a confused look. "Huh?"

Kagome laughed sheepishly. "Oh, don't worry bout it. But the point it, your secret is safe with us. So the only question is, what are you going to do about it?" With that question, Kagome left Kagura alone with her thoughts.

Kagomes parting question whirled through her head along with a hundred different companions. 'Should I tell him? How would he take it? What if he hated me? Would he even believe me?'

Shaking her head, Kagura shoved those questions from her mind. She would deal with that issue when it got there. After all, she had more important things to worry about, like getting back at Inu Yasha for his dying whore comment. She wasn't near as mad that he had said it then if it had really been Akito. After all, it _was_ Inu Yasha, he was supposed to say things like that. Kagura smirked evilly, and she was supposed to make his life miserable. It was just the way things were. Sesshoumaru would just have to wait.

* * *

_First of all, I want to apologize for taking so long on this chapter. It's the end of the semester for me and my professors have been assigning me extra work. Fortunately, today was the last day of classes for me, but now it's finals time. I'll try to get another chapter up next week, but absolutely no promises there. However, you can expect at least one chapter before Christmas. I'll try to see if I can get in an extra chapter or two as well over the break to kind of make up for time lost, but we'll see. Sometimes I just kind of run into a wall, I'm sure ya'll know what I'm talking to. _

_On another note, I'm going to try to see if I can't get another story started over the break as well. You won't have to worry, this one will still take priority. The other story, I've got about three ideas I'm looking at doing and I haven't decided which one I want to do quite yet(another Sessh x Kag, a Naruto story, and a Harry Potter story), but the other story will be updated at irregular intervals though I hope to update it at least once a month though. I am takimg fewer classes next semester though, I'm down to 15 credit hours instead of the 18 credit hours I had this semester, so I'll have quite a bit more time. This means I might be able to update them simultaneously. But we'll see._

_ And, like always, if you see any problems or mistakes I made please don't hesitate to tell me about it. You can send me an email or put it in a review, or just aim me at **firefoxx49**. On a completely unrelated note, I bet you can't guess what browser I use. Or what my favorite animal is. Though even though I love foxes I'm still not a huge Shippou fan. Don't know why. But I digress. And always remember, an author likes to know that his/her work is appreciated. So please don't hesitate to tell me how much you love me. Or if you have any comments or suggestions. Like I said any of the above three are an option: email, review, or aim. And thanks again for reading._

* * *

_Published: 12/06/06 at 10:39 pm_

* * *

_C ya'll laters,_

_Cute and Fluffy _


	7. A Matter of Pride Part I

Crimson and Gold

By Cute and Fluffy

* * *

Kagura finally wins back her heart, and her freedom, from Naraku and when he is finally destroyed she is at a loss for what to do. But what happens when her heart is suddenly stolen by another? And what happens when that theif happens to be a certain silver-haired, gold-eyed youkai who doesn't know what to do with his own? (Sesshoumaru x Kagura)

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own 'em. The plot and any original characters I may create are mine alone though. So don't take em!

* * *

Crimson and Gold

Chapter 7: A Matter of Pride Part I

* * *

Sesshoumaru sat outside on the miko's front porch, he'd be damned before admitting to staying in his half-brother's house, watching Rin squeal happily as she ran away from a laughing Shippo. They were playing some sort of ridiculous game the miko had taught them, hide and seek or some other such nonsense. Not that Sesshoumaru particularly cared, as long as it kept Rin occupied and happy.

He had to admit though; it really was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly overhead, offset by a cool breeze coming in from the ocean so many miles away, he could smell traces of sea salt on the wind. It was the type of day that had he been younger and any less dignified, like Rin, he probably would have allowed himself to let loose and enjoy it. As it was he had left affairs in the West alone for far too long, he had been here for a little over half a month already. It was high time that he left.

Granted he hadn't completely healed, but all but the worst of his injuries had healed over and he had more than enough mobility to return home. Besides, heaven knows what Jaken had managed to screw up in the time that he had been gone. Or even worse, what if those godforsaken nobles had noticed his absence? The consequences of that could be disastrous, especially if they discovered the circumstances that had led to his disappearance.

He sighed inwardly, Rin would be disappointed, but it couldn't be helped. He had to return. With the natural grace of a hunter bred and born, he stood up from his spot on the porch and called out to his charge, "Rin."

He was pleased to see she remembered her manners despite his half-brother's best efforts. She immediately ran over to him, "Yes, Fluffy-sama?" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he took back what he had just thought. He had let that idiot hanyou spend way too much time with Rin.

"We are leaving. I will send someone back for your things."

Her face fell, but she still listened to him. "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama." He actually almost flinched at the sudden change in attitude, he knew how much she wanted to stay, but they absolutely had to return. She'd get over it soon enough.

Pulling Rin close to him with his one arm, he began the spell that summoned his cloud to him. He chanted it softly underneath his breath, but before he was able to finish he was hit with a strong gust of wind. It caught him by surprise and knocked him down onto his side. He couldn't quite stifle his groan as the pain lanced through him.

Forcing himself to his feet despite his pain, he glared at the wind youkai standing in front of him, glaring at him unrepentantly. He prepared his ears for the screaming that was bound to come, and therefore was impressed in spite of himself when she instead kept calm enough to put him to shame, "What do you think you're doing?"

Unconsciously he straightened to his full height in answer to her challenge, "I am leaving," he said coldly.

Apparently she wasn't intimidated in the slightest, her voice becoming just as cold as his. "I'm afraid I beg to differ. You are going nowhere until you are fully healed."

He raised an eyebrow mockingly, "And I suppose you're going to keep me here."

"If necessary, yes."

He stared at her for a moment, contemplating his next move. However, she beat him to the punch. "Rin, come here."

The young girl slipped out of his fingers before he could react and ran over to stand beside the witch. "Rin," he snapped, growing angry with the delays, "get back here, now."

"No!" she said stubbornly, her arms crossed and lower lip stuck out, looking every inch the stubborn, sulking child. "I want to stay. I want to play with Shippou."

"That's fine, Rin. You go find Shippou. I'm just gonna have a talk with Fluffy here."

Rin brightened immediately. "Ok." She ran off, no doubt to find that miscreant kitsune like Kagura had suggested.

As soon as Rin was out of earshot, Sesshoumaru began to lay into the wind witch. "What do you think…"

She interrupted him, no longer calm, "No! What do you think you're doing?!" She advanced on him, jabbing him in the chest with each word. "Attempting to fly out of here like that? How do you know you even have the energy to maintain that spell? What would you have done if it suddenly quit in mid-air? You could have killed her!"

Sesshoumaru was beginning to get angry. "Do not presume me for a fool!" he growled in her face. "I know my own limitations. I would never risk Rin like that!"

"Then what the hell do you call that?"

"I am perfectly fine! And we are leaving!"

The two stood just inches apart, faces flushed and breathing heavily from shouting at each other. Finally, Kagura threw her hands up in the air and walked away from him. "Fine! If you want to get yourself killed, go ahead. Be my guest."

Sesshoumaru smirked, reveling in his victory, when suddenly she turned around and whipped out her fan. "But you'll have to beat me first."

He stood there for a moment, staring dumbly at her. "What?" she smirked, "is the big bad Fluffy afwaid of a wittle girl?" she asked mockingly, using that aggravating tone that he'd heard humans using with their young.

His face flushed slightly even though he kept it otherwise composed. How _dare_ she? "I would not wish to injure you," he told her condescendingly, trying to keep his anger under control. He was not used to being mocked.

"Well then what's stopping you? You won't even be able to lay a finger on me."

"Very well," he snarled, losing control as he dropped into a crouch. "You brought this on yourself."

With a chilling growl he launched himself at her, reveling in the feel of the air rushing past and the straining of his muscles. Gods, but he had missed this. He felt himself instinctively begin to let his poison run through his claw, but forced himself to stop. He only wanted to touch the witch a lesson, not kill her. He stopped just short of where she stood and launched a vicious crescent kick at her head.

She ducked below it and rolled of to the side before countering with a large gust of wind that Sesshoumaru narrowly avoided. As much as he hated to admit it, he really wasn't in a prime condition to fight at the moment. Avoiding an attack like that should have been nothing. Regardless, this fight was going to be anything but boring.

The two across from each other, each glaring daggers at their opponent. Sesshoumaru was aware of a crowd gathering and his idiot half-brother and his miko pushing through the crowd, but he blocked them out of his mind. This was between him and the wind witch and neither heaven nor hell was going to stop him.

* * *

_Hey there, sorry abou taking so long to update and for posting such a ridiculously short chapter. I know that this is an extremely short chapter and I promise I'll make it up to ya'll with the next chapter. I'm going to try to have it up by this weekend and it's going to be a lot longer then this one, I guarantee it. I do think that the month-long hiatus has done me some good. I have a better idea of where the story is going now then I did before the break. _

_I'll have more to say when I put up the next chapter. I just wanted to put up a little something so ya'll all know that I haven't forgotten bout you yet. Hope ya'll enjoyed what little was here. Think of it as a preview for the real chapter this weekend.  
_

* * *

**Published on:** January 17, 2007 at 6:09 pm

**Updated on:**

* * *

C ya'll laters,

Cute and Fluffy


	8. A Matter of Pride Part II

Crimson and Gold

By Cute and Fluffy

* * *

Kagura finally wins back her heart, and her freedom, from Naraku and when he is finally destroyed she is at a loss for what to do. But what happens when her heart is suddenly stolen by another? And what happens when that theif happens to be a certain silver-haired, gold-eyed youkai who doesn't know what to do with his own? (Sesshoumaru x Kagura)

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own 'em. The plot and any original characters I may create are mine alone though. So don't take em!

* * *

Crimson and Gold

Chapter 7: A Matter of Pride Part II

* * *

_The two across from each other, each glaring daggers at their opponent. Sesshoumaru was aware of a crowd gathering and his idiot half-brother and his miko pushing through the crowd, but he blocked them out of his mind. This was between him and the wind witch and neither heaven nor hell was going to stop him._

* * *

Took the untrained eye, it would look like Sesshoumaru was simply standing still, as regal and indifferent as he usually seemed. However, what Kagura saw was no bored demon. He might have been standing tall, but his legs were bent in the slightest of crouches and he leaned slightly forward, balancing on the balls of his feet, ready to spring at a seconds notice.

Even then, someone could have mistaken his intentions if it were not for his eyes. There was a fire in them that she'd only seen once before, a passion swimming beneath the surface. If she had been anyone else she probably would have missed it. But she was Kagura, Mistress of the Winds, Child of Naraku, Demon, and she saw the bloodlust burning in his eyes. Because she could feel it burning inside her as well.

As much as she loved her friends, this was something that they would never understand. To her, to Sesshoumaru, to any demon, there was something intoxicating about a hunter's grace. Something primal and seductive about the intricate dance between predator and prey. Every time she fought she could feel it burning through her blood, thrilling and empowering, and leaving her craving it when it was no longer there. That's why demons fought – it was an addiction, as much a part of them as a hand or eye.

Suddenly, Kagura's crimson eyes met the gold of Sesshoumaru's and the age old dance whisked them away. Sesshoumaru sprung, covering the distance between them in a flash. Kagura fell back, throwing herself into a backwards role. When she had regained her footing she went to counter with her Fujin no Mai before recalling the villagers surrounding the two combats, not to mention Sesshoumaru's current condition.

Cursing underneath her breath, she instead hit him with a solid gust of wind with a snap of her wrist. He staggered for a moment underneath the gust but regained his balance and came at her again. She dodged to the side and moved swiftly behind him, striking him in the back of the knees with another gust. She noted with satisfaction that his legs buckled beneath him, he obviously really wasn't in good enough shape to be fighting like this. It was obvious he hadn't had much activity for a while; his muscles were still getting re-accustomed to the stress of fighting.

She watched as he turned his fall into forward roll, snapping back up to his feet. While he took a moment to regain his balance and reverse his momentum she took advantage of the time he gave her to consider her strategy. She didn't want to injure him, he already had enough wounds as it was, just show him that he was in no condition to be leaving yet. That meant she would have to wear him down until he gave in. She looked around taking in her surroundings. With a smirk she decided her next move just as Sesshoumaru charged back at her.

Turning, she ran towards where Kagome and Inu Yasha stood, attempting to keep the villagers out of the combatants way. Inu Yasha noticed her at the last second as she leapt up and landed lightly on his shoulder, using him as a spring board to cover the remainder of the crowd in a second leap. She landed outside the ring of villagers and took off towards the center of the village.

* * *

Sesshoumaru watched as the witch jumped off his brother's shoulders to land outside the crowd. With a growl he ran after her, taking advantage of the situation to gain a small measure of revenge against his stupid half-brother, who he blamed completely for this current mess. He must have corrupted Rin more than he had previously expected. Copying Kagura's idea he jumped onto the already off balance hanyou. He noted with satisfaction that Inu Yasha hit the dirt as he jumped off. Landing solidly on his feet he took off in the direction he had seen Kagura go.

Sesshoumaru smirked wickedly. So she wanted to play hard to get did she? Well, he was more than willing to play, this was more fun than he'd had in a long while. It was thrilling to go up against a skilled opponent. His smirk grew, though it was too early to decide whether or not she was worthy of fighting him, he thought arrogantly.

He sniffed the air, checking it for her scent. It was there, he was going the right way. Apparently the witch was faster than he had expected. Then he noticed a flash of white before it disappeared around the edge of a house a little way ahead of him. She might be fast, but that just wasn't good enough when it came to him.

As he neared the corner she had turned at he tensed, ready to spring out of the way if necessary. And as he expected, there she was waiting for him. He sprang to the side as she sent a brutal blast of air his way. He had to give her points; at least she was intelligent enough to realize that she couldn't outrun him forever. However, this was the end of the line for her.

He scrambled back to his feet and went to jump at her before he noticed that she had disappeared. He quickly scanned the area, where had she gone. Closing his eyes he sniffed the air, once again attempting to locate her trail. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he offered a small respectful smile to the empty street. She had deliberately distracted him with that attack and taken advantage of the few seconds his eyes had been off of her. She had taken to the roofs.

Running at the house, he leapt up and landed in a crouch on the edge of the roof. Sure enough, she was about four buildings ahead of him and getting farther every second. Growling, he took off after her. They raced across the rooftops in the village, Sesshoumaru gaining every second. He suddenly noticed an additional aura tailing behind him, but a quick look just revealed Inu Yasha racing behind him. What he hoped to accomplish Sesshoumaru didn't know, but he dismissed him from his mind all the same. Worrying about him would only prove to be a distraction and distractions led to mistakes which led to defeat.

A fact nearly borne out as he turned around only to run smack dab into another gust. It hit him in the chest like a hammer, knocking the air out of him and setting his healing ribs to burning as he hit the roof and slid across the shingles. He was thankful for the wooden roofs of this village. He wouldn't have fancied falling a full story after going right through a straw roof. One hand clutching his side, he staggered back to his feet and took off again after Kagura.

Sneaky wench. That little move had bought her even more time, but Sesshoumaru wasn't about to stand for being made a fool like that. He pushed himself to run even faster than he had before he had gotten hit. Damn Inu Yasha! He knew that he should have just dismissed the idiot immediately.

Suddenly he smelt a slight change in the scents on the wind rushing past him and age-old instincts sprang into action. He skidded to a halt at the edge of the building he was on and looked around for whatever had caused the change. All of the sudden he felt another gust of wind slam into him. This time though, it was significantly weaker than the previous ones had been. Had he kept on running, though, he didn't doubt that it would have hit him with the same force as the last one.

Then it clicked. How could he have missed it? In order to attack him like that she had to redirect the wind and when she changed their course it meant that the scents that they were carrying would change as well. Sesshoumaru smirked and took off after her again. Now as long as he paid closer attention to the scents around him he shouldn't have a problem with dodging her attacks.

He looked ahead at the witch. He had to give her points for perseverance. No doubt if someone had challenged Inu Yasha like this it would have driven him mad, but Sesshoumaru knew there was more to fighting then just staying still and swinging swords at your opponent. She was actually approaching this situation from a rather intelligent perspective. She obviously didn't want to hurt him, too badly at least, and by staying ahead of him she could attack him with impunity and not risk being counter-attacked. A smart strategy when fighting an opponent both stronger and slower then oneself, unfortunately for her while he was definitely stronger then her, he was also faster and now that he knew how to dodge her attack her strategy wasn't going to work anymore.

There was only one house between the two of them now. Suddenly she turned and jumped down to the ground below, just as he smelt the winds changing again and prepared to leap out of the way. However as he tried to turn and jump down to the ground he realized that her plan was more thought-out than he had given her credit for. Caught in mid-air unable to move he was completely unable to dodge as her attack slammed into him. With a groan he hit the dirt and rolled into the porch of another one of the villager's small houses.

His side was definitely on fire now as he savagely reprimanded himself. How could he have not seen that coming? He had ignored one of the key laws of strategy. He had underestimated her again. If you're going to err – err on the side of caution. After all, overkill doesn't get you killed.

The witch was good, there was no getting past that. And he was injured. Had he been in perfect condition this fight could very well have gone differently, but 'what ifs' weren't about to win this fight for him. He absolutely had to win this fight, if he didn't not only would his pride take a blow but his reputation among the other demon lords would certainly plummet. He was still trying to regain it after losing his arm to his half-brother and taking in Rin, there would be no telling the political implications if he then went and lost to the witch.

He got back up to his feet and took off after her. She had taken to the roofs again, leaping up he began to close the distance slowly. He needed the extra time to think, he had to approach this like she was any other threat. He had no chance of winning if he couldn't come up with some sort of strategy quickly. As it was, her strategy was nearly fool-proof, even with her reluctance to injure him. She was healthy and rested and all she had to do was outlast him.

As he followed her as she leapt from the housetops to the ground, weaving in between the houses before jumping back to the roofs again; all the while tossing the occasional gust of wind at him. As he ran he mulled over a number of strategies in his mind, looking for the one that best guaranteed victory. Finally deciding on one, he mentally estimated the distance between him and Kagura in his mind. Mentally bracing himself for this attack he burst out into a sprint. He was definitely going to regret doing this.

* * *

"Damn that man!" Kagura growled beneath her breath, "Doesn't he know when to quit?" She could feel herself tiring; she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this pace up. Even injured the guy was incredibly fast. His reputation was obviously well-deserved. If he didn't give up soon she was going to have to get a lot nastier.

Suddenly she felt his aura rapidly approaching and turned to see him sprinting towards her. Her eyes widened almost comically at his approach; he was covering the distance between them faster than she had thought possible. Desperately she prepared for another gust of wind and as he leapt the gap between their respective houses, she lashed out. Then she watched in horror as her attack landed and he doubled up in mid-air, before slamming into the edge of the roof. He scrabbled frantically with his one arm to try to gain a handhold, but was unsuccessful and he suddenly disappeared from her sight as gravity took a hold of him.

She skidded to a stop, snapping her fan shut and sliding it into her obi, and ran back to where he had fallen. She jumped down lightly only to see him struggling back to his feet. He staggered for a few moments before gaining his balance. But he could barely stand, she could tell. His breathing was loud and ragged and he clutched his injured side with his one arm. Suddenly Inu Yasha jumped down from the rooftops to land next to his half-brother. He went to give Sesshoumaru a hand, but the older youkai pushed him away. She sighed exasperated, the man didn't know when to quit! "Sesshoumaru, just give it up! You can barely stand, much less fight."

He fixed her with a nasty glare, making his opinion on her statement quite clear. "Like hell!" he spat. She was mildly surprised at his vehemence, she'd never seen him lose his cool before, but started towards him to give him a hand regardless.

"Come on, Sesshoumaru. Let's fix you back up." But as she reached out to support him, he swiped viciously at her, forcing her to jump back. Gods, the man made her want to scream. But seeing no other way she pulled her fan out and flicked it back open, preparing to bind him. Suddenly he sprang at her, catching her by surprise. She froze up, unable to move at all, and so was even more surprised when he missed her. Then she realized that he hadn't missed at all, she just hadn't been his target.

She looked with horror at her fan. Five jagged slashes ran through it, the edges curling slightly as the residues of his poison burned the fabric. She turned around to look at Sesshoumaru, realizing that he had been acting all along, deliberately luring her in. Now her fan was useless and he knew it, the damned youkai stood there smirking wickedly at her.

Already tired, frustrated, and tense from worrying about him, this was the last straw. She threw her head back and screamed. It was one of the many bad habits she had picked up from Kagome, but she had to admit it was pretty effective when ever she got real frustrated. At least, it always made her feel better.

Now that she had that out of her system, she snapped her fan shut, and, slipping it into her obi, turned to face Sesshoumaru. "Do you know how hard that is to fix?" she asked dangerously.

His irritating smirk didn't waver in the slightest, "You should have thought about that before challenging me."

Kagura closed her eyes, attempting to calm herself. He was trying to provoke her into doing something stupid. Well, she wasn't Inu Yasha and there was no way in hell she was about to fall for that. Opening her eyes back up, she quickly scanned her surroundings. Somehow they had ended up in front of the shrine that had once served as Kikyo's grave. Good she had plenty of room to maneuver. Cursing whatever gods had made her put on a kimono this morning, she attacked.

* * *

Sesshoumaru watched with satisfaction as she stared at her fan in shock. However, that little maneuver had cost him. He could feel his arm and his unbroken side burning; no doubt he had ripped the stitches there. His other side he couldn't feel any more, a fact for which he should probably be grateful. But no doubt she'd give up now that she didn't have her fan.

Suddenly he watched in confusion as she threw her head back and screamed. He forced himself to maintain his composure, but was absolutely incredulous on the inside. What the hell was she doing? Then she turned to him as she put away her fan and said coldly, "Do you know how hard that is to fix?"

Trying to goad her on he replied arrogantly, "You should have thought about that before challenging me."

He was pleased to see he was getting to her. He watched as she closed her eyes; attempting to maintain her composure. Then she opened them, looked around, and struck out with a vicious jab at his throat. He was so surprised he almost wasn't able to block. He had underestimated the damn woman again! He hadn't thought that Naraku would have taught her hand-to-hand combat. Then again he hadn't been aware that Naraku even knew how to fight outside of trying to overwhelm his opponents through treachery or the sheer number of his tentacles.

The witch took his momentary hesitation to her advantage, going on the offense. She attacked with a style he had never seen before. The two circled each other, each seeking an opportunity to finish the fight. After a few moments the two broke apart both trying to catch their breath. And while he was grateful that he had managed to get away unscathed, he was also furious. She was going easy on him; not once had she attacked his exposed side. Damn her! He didn't need to be coddled – so what if he was injured. No matter, he'd make her take him for real. She asked for this fight, she was going to get it.

Sesshoumaru let her attack him again, just one more quick round should be enough to get a minimal grasp on her fighting style. Sure enough, he began to notice the small weaknesses in her offense that he could exploit as he began to adapt to her attacks. It was a strange style to be sure, but as he watched her he realized that it was just an adaptation of a style that one of his early instructors had exposed him to. He couldn't remember the name of it; He had abandoned it pretty quickly, it focused on striking a number of key pressure points around the body in order to put the opponent out of commission as quickly as possible. It was rather effective, especially against multiple opponents. A well-placed strike could knock an enemy unconscious or numb an arm or leg long enough to give you time to deal with whatever other enemies might be attacking you. It just wasn't Sesshoumaru's style though – he preferred to kill and kill swiftly instead of simply putting opponents out of commission.

As he began to adapt to her attack routine he began to wonder why she had yet to launch a single kick at him. A quick glance-over was able to answer the question. She was wearing a kimono. He noticed that it was ripped some at the bottom, she probably wouldn't have been able to run at all otherwise, but it still didn't offer enough freedom to let her strike out with her feet.

Suddenly she struck out with a particularly nasty spearhand towards the hollow his throat, but instead of blocking like he had the last few, he sidestepped enough to allow her hand to pass mere inches in front of his throat. The movement threw her off balance and he took advantage of the opening to lash out with a sidekick, striking her in the ribs and causing her to fly back several feet.

He was on her immediately as she got back to her feet. His one arm put him at a disadvantage, one that he tried to offset by using his feet and attacking as swiftly as possible.

However, soon enough the two combatants broke away from each other. Sesshoumaru could hear her breathing heavily, which would have been encouraging had he not been breathing just as heavily, if not more so, as her. He took advantage of the moment to assess his condition. Every one of his limbs was on fire, he had not used them near this much in his half month stay here and the muscles had atrophied somewhat. He didn't know exactly how much longer they would hold up under his current pace but it couldn't be more than a few minutes. Not to mention the bloodloss, he had indeed torn open a number of his stitches, he could feel the warm, sticky fluid running down his side and arm and clouding up his sense of smell. He was going to have to finish this soon or he'd end up losing. Suddenly he heard someone fast approaching, but simply dismissed it for Inu Yasha and once again charged at the witch.

* * *

Kagura stood across from Sesshoumaru, watching him warily and attempting to catch her breath. Gods she was exhausted! And that kick of his had hurt! Add that up with the couple of punches he had managed to land on her, she knew that she was going to be hurting tomorrow. She gently pressed a hand to the side he had kicked, she could already feel the bruising. At least he hadn't broken anything.

And speaking of broken bones, how the hell was he still able to stand? She could see a thin trickle of blood running down his arm and dripping off his claw. No doubt he had torn the stitches open that she had spent so much time on. Damn him! Why did he always have to make things difficult?

All of the sudden, she felt an aura moving at them fast. "Just Inu Yasha," she muttered to herself, before realizing that Inu Yasha was standing a little ways behind Sesshoumaru. Then who could it be? Only another demon could be moving that fast. But before she could shout a warning to the two half-brothers Sesshoumaru attacked. Just before the taiyoukai reached her, however, a blur shot out from between two of the buildings and slammed into Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru and his attacker went hurtling off to the side in a fluffy of snarls and claws. Suddenly, she heard Sesshoumaru cry out, which shocked her out of her frozen stupor. However, Inu Yasha got there first. He launched himself in front of his half-brother, taking several attacks that were no doubt meant for Sesshoumaru, before striking back viciously at the fool that had dared to attack his blood. Snarling, ears flat on his head, Inu Yasha tackled his opponent, intent on pummeling him into the ground. Kagura almost smiled, she had always known that they didn't hate each other half as much as they acted like they did.

Suddenly Kagome appeared on the scene, the crowd of villagers close behind her. And ironically enough, she realized before anyone exactly who it was that was fighting with Inu Yasha. "Inu Yasha, Akito! Stop it!"

When neither of the two listened, 'Most likely because they never even heard her shout,' thought Kagura, Kagome, who was close to tears by now, shouted again, "STOP IT! SIT!"

Inu Yasha collapsed on top of Akito, pinning them both to the ground. "What the hell do you two think you're doing?" shouted Kagome now that she had their undivided attention.

Once Inu Yasha had twisted his head enough so he could answer he started shouting back at her, "Let me up dammit! This bastard deserves it!"

"Why?" Kagome cut him off before he could continue.

Kagura stepped in to see if she could help get Inu Yasha out of the hole he was digging for himself. "Because that son of a bitch attacked Sesshoumaru when his back was turned!" she yelled just as pissed off as Inu Yasha. She pointed over at Sesshoumaru who was just getting back to his feet. Akito had done a real number on him. His clothes were slashed and bloody and he was bleeding profusely from a nasty gash on his head.

Kagome blanched, no doubt she realized she'd be up late helping Kagura stitch up his wounds yet again. Suddenly the spell that had held Inu Yasha down wore off and he immediately began to lay in to Akito. Kagome shouted, "Sit!" again just as Inu Yasha landed a powerful sidekick, quite similar to the one Kagura had felt just moments ago. The hanyou hit the ground as the cat youkai skidded back into the stairs leading up to the shrine.

As Akito staggered to his feet, bleeding from a number of deep scratches courtesy of Inu Yasha, Kagura walked calmly over to him and smashed him right in the face. He hit the ground with a satisfying thud. Then as he opened his mouth to say something she cut him off, "What the _hell_ did you think you were doing?"

He stared up at her incredulously from the ground, "What do you mean what was I doing? I was saving you from that bastard!" he shouted.

"And what made you think that I needed saving?" she asked scathingly.

"He was attacking you!"

"I attacked him first you dumb…"

Kagome clapped a hand over Kagura's mouth. "Akito," she said quietly, "do you know who it is that you just attacked?"

"No and I don't really give a damn either!" he snarled. "Here I was trying to save your wretched ass…" he pointed at Kagura, "and all you…"

"That's my brother jackass," snarled Inu Yasha right back, who had gotten up and come up behind Kagome.

Kagome tossed a casual, "Sit," over her shoulder to Inu Yasha before trying to diffuse the volatile situation, "Akito, he's our friend. It's a long story, but he and Kagura were just trying to settle a little bet."

He looked at her incredulously then turned sharply on his heel and walked off. Kagome made a move as if to go after him, but Kagura grabbed her hand. "Let him go," she said quite coldly. "Besides, you probably couldn't do anything anyways. He's a cat demon with an injured pride. Let him go off and lick his wounds."

Suddenly they heard a thud behind them and Kagura whirled around to see Sesshoumaru collapsed on the ground. "Come on, we got to get him some help," she gasped running to his side.

All Kagome's training with Kaede kicked into action. "Inu Yasha, get Sesshoumaru back into his room. Kagura start some hot water." Every body kicked into action and the crowd of villagers, now that all the excitement was over, began to disperse. Before rushing back to help Sesshoumaru she cast one last look over her shoulder at Akito, still visible on the horizon. "This is not gonna end well," she said softly to herself. Then she started running to catch up to her friends.

* * *

_Hey there guys. I know I promised to have this up by the weekend, but something important came up yesterday and I didn't have a chance to finish it up. So I'm a day late and hoping ya'll will forgive me._

_Anyways, when I sat down to start on this chapter I wasn't planning on their fight taking up the entire chapter. I think though that it works out well that it did though. Even watching the anime or writing the story it's easy to forget that being demons don't just mean they have all these powers. Their nature is entire different. I think that's one thing that almost all of the stories I've read, mine included I think, have failed to capture. It's one of the things I noticed after stepping back from the story for a while. And it's one of the things I'm going to try to work on from this point on. But we'll see how that goes._

_Other than that, I suppose I was also just enthusiastic about the fight. I'm a bit of a martial arts buff – I am actually training in two different styles: Moo Duk Kwan, a variation of Tae Kwon Do, and Aikido, a Japanese style. Aikido is by far my favorite, it's the art of using an opponent's balance against them. To that end there's a lot of throws and joint manipulation and if used right it can be absolutely brutal. My sensei is a skinny little guy in his 40's and I've seen him whip men almost twice his size around like rag dolls. It's fun though and a pretty good form of exercise. Plus it gives me something to do._

_Anywho, I'm not going to promise a chapter by this weekend, but that's what I'm shooting for. We'll see. I do promise to have it out within the next two weeks though. I'm going to start putting in more work into the story, try to get it more polished up than I have been doing._

_But there we go, that's my little blurb for the day. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. And like I've always said an author loves to hear that their work is being enjoyed. So please feel free to write a review, send me an email, or drop me a line in some way shape or form. And I'm always open to suggestions._

* * *

**Published:** January 22, 2007 at 11:20 pm

**Updated Last:**

* * *

C ya'll laters,

Cute and Fluffy


End file.
